GIFT  OF 

Jo  /IK    f-L 


-A.   HISTORY 


O  R  E  G^  O  N, 


1792 — 1849, 


DRAWN  FROM  PERSONAL  OBSERVATION  AND  AUTHENTIC  INFORMATION. 


W      H.     G^ 

or 

ASTORIA 


PUBLISHED    BY   THE    AUTHOR    FOR    SUBSCRIBERS. 


PORTLAND.    OREGON:    HARRIS    A    HOLlfAN. 

SAN  FRANCISCO:    H.   H.   BANCROFT  &  CO. 

NEW  YORK:   THE  AMERICAN  NEWS  COMPANY. 

1870. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S70,  by 

W.   II.    GRAY, 
In  ihe  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  District  of  Oregon. 


^7/ 


IHTKOPUCTQEY, 


ERRATA. 


Page  526,  llth  line  from  top,  for  "becamed,"  read  "  became." 

Page  568,  6th  line  from  bottom,  for  "  Moxon,"  read  "  Maxou."     Also  on  pages  570  and 

573  the  same  error  occurs. 

Page  583,  19th  line  from  top,  for  "  that  British,"  read  "  that  the  British." 
Page  592,  7th  line  from  bottom,  for  '•  propriety,"  read  "  propensity." 
Page  602,  7th  line  from  top,  for  "  where,"  read  "  when." 
Page  613,  4th  line  from  bottom,  for  "  ten,"  read  "  one  hundred." 


practices  ot  one  ol  the  most  gigantic  Irauds  ever  continued  for  a 
series  of  years  by  one  professedly  civilized  and  Christian  nation 
upon  another,  in  chartering  and  continuing  to  license  a  monster 
monopoly ;  and  the  manner  in  which  they  have  sought  for  a  series 
of  years  to  prevent  American  trade  and  settlement  of  the  western 
portion  of  our  country,  is  contained  in  the  following  pages.  We  can 
only  give  the  principal  events,  which  in  the  future  may  be  better 
arranged  in  an  interesting  and  authentic  history,  which  we  must 
leave  for  others  to  write.  The  reader  .will  find  in  the  following 
pages : — 

I.   The  American  history  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  and  Puget  Sound 
Agricultural  companies. 


IKTEODUCTOET. 


THE  reader  will  observe  that  when  we  commenced  furnishing  the 
historical  articles  for  the  Marine  Gazette,  we  did  not  know  that  they 
would  be  of  sufficient  interest  to  justify  arranging  them  in  book 
form ;  but  few  articles  had  been  given,  however,  before  there  was  a 
call  for  back  numbers  of  the  paper,  which  were  not  on  hand.  It  was 
then  decided  to  continue  the  articles,  giving  an  opportunity  to  correct 
errors  in  statement  of  historical  facts,  and  collect  such  as  were  printed, 
with  all  just  criticisms,  review  the  whole,  and  complete  the  manu 
script  for  publication. 

As  will  be  seen,  we  have  endeavored  to  narrate  events  in  plain 
language,  and  as  nearly  in  the  order  of  occurrence  as  possible. 

We  make  no  claim  to  literary  merit  or  attractive  style ;  the  facts 
we  have  collected,  the  proofs  we  are  able  to  give  of  the  policy  and 
practices  of  one  of  the  most  gigantic  frauds  ever  continued  for  a 
series  of  years  by  one  professedly  civilized  and  Christian  nation 
upon  another,  in  chartering  and  continuing  to  license  a  monster 
monopoly ;  and  the  manner  in  which  they  have  sought  for  a  series 
of  years  to  prevent  American  trade  and  settlement  of  the  western 
portion  of  our  country,  is  contained  in  the  following  pages.  We  can 
only  give  the  principal  events,  which  in  the  future  may  be  better 
arranged  in  an  interesting  and  authentic  history,  which  we  must 
leave  for  others  to  write.  The  reader  .will  find  in  the  following 
pages  :— 

I.  The  American  history  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  and  Puget  Sound 
Agricultural  companies. 


4  INTRODUCTORY. 

II.  The  causes  of  failure  of  the  Protestant  missions,  the  causes 
of  Indian  wars,  and  the  causes  that  must  tend  to  the  utter  destruction 
of  the  Indian  race  on  the  American  continent 

III.  The  adverse  influences  that  the  early  settlers  had  to  contend 
with  in  coming  to  and  settling  in  the  country,  fully  explained. 

IY.  A  concise  history  of  the  early  settlement  of  the  country,  a 
short  sketch  of  many  of  the  public  men  in  it,  their  public  char 
acter  and  proceedings,  and  the  organization  of  the  provisional 
government. 

V.    The  mining  and  agricultural  interests  of  the  country. 

There  are  two  grounds  upon  which  every  fact  is  based : — 

1.  Personal  knowledge,  observation,  and  participation  in  what  is 
stated  for  one-third  of  a  century. 

2.  The   written  and  printed  statements  of  others,  so  compared 
that  conclusions  are  intended  to  be  without  a  possibility  of  truthful 
contradiction ;  thus  making  this  a  standard  history  of  the  country 
for  the  time  included  within  the  period  from  its  discovery  by  Captain 
Eobert  Gray  to  1849. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

First  discovery  of  the  river. — Natives  friendly. — British  ship. — Brig  Jennet. — Snow  Sea 
Otter. — The  Globe. — Alert. — Guatimozin. — Atahualpa. — Lewis  and  Clarke. — Vancou 
ver. — Hamilton. — Derby. — Pearl. — Albatross. — First  house  built  in  1810. — Astor's 
settlement. — The  Tonquin. — Astor's  Company  betrayed  to  the  Northwest  Com 
pany ; Page  13 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  country  restored. — The  order. — Description  of  Astoria. — Different  parties. — North 
west  Fur  Company. — Astor's  plan. — Conflict  of  the  two  British  fur  companies. — 
The  treaties. — The  Selkirk  settlement. — Its  object. — The  company  asserts  char 
tered  rights  as  soon  as  united 20 

CHAPTER    III. 

English  Hudson's  Bay  effort  to  secure  Oregon. — British  claim  to  Oregon. — Dr. 
McLaughlin's  relation  to  the  company. — Treatment  of  Red  River  settlers. — A 
mistake. — Sir  Edward  Belcher. — Duplicity  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. — A 
noble  man. — An  Englishman's  opinion  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. — Sir 
James  Douglas's  testimony. — J.  Ross  Browne. — Duty  of  an  historian. — Cause  and 
effect 27 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Care  of  Great  Britain  for  her  fur  companies. — Columbia  Fur  Company. — Astor's  second 
fur  company. — Major  Pilcher's  fur  company. — Loss  of  the  ship  Isabel. — Captain 
Bonne ville's  expedition. — Cause  of  his  failure. — Captain  "Wyeth's,  1832. — Indians 
ask  for  missionaries  in  1833. — Methodist  Mission. — Fort  Hall  established. — Fort 
Boise 36 

CHAPTER   V. 

I  Extent  and  power  of  Hudson's  Bay  Company. — Number  of  forts. — Location. — Policy. — 
Murder  of  Mr.  Black. — McKay. — Manner  of  dealing  with  Indians. — Commander  of 
fort  kills  an  Indian. — Necessity  of  such  a  course. — Hudson's  Bay  Company  not 
responsible  for  what  their  servants  do 42 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Murder  of  John  McLaughlin,  Jr. — Investigation  by  Sir  George  Simpson  and  Sir  James 
Douglas 46 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Treatment  of  Indians. — Influence  of  Hudson's  Bay  Company. — Rev.  Mr.  Barnley's  state 
ment. — First  three  years. — After  that. — Treatment  of  Jesuits. — Of  Protestants. — Of 
Indians. — Not  a  spade  to  commence  their  new  mode  of  life. — Mr.  Barnley's  state 
ment. — Disappointed. — His  mistake. — Hudson's  Bay  Company  disposed  to  crush 
their  own  missionaries ....  55 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Petition  oF  Red  River  settlers. — Their  requests,  from  1  to  14. — Names. — Governor. 
Christie's  reply. — Company's  reply. — Extract  from  minutes. — Resolutions,  from  1  to 
9. — Enforcing  rules. — Land  deed.— Its  condition.— Remarks Page  61 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Puget  Sound  Agricultural  Company. — Its  original  stock. — A  correspondence. — No  law 
to  punish  fraud. — A  supposed  trial  of  the  case. — Article  four  of  the  treaty. — The 
witnesses. — Who  is  to  receive  the  Puget  Sound  money. — Dr.  Tolmie,  agent  of  the 
company. — The  country  hunted  up. — Difficult  to  truce  a  fictitious  object. — State 
ment  of  their  claim. — Result  of  the  investigation 67 

CHAPTER  X. 

Case  of  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  v.  The  United  States. — Examination  of  Mr. 
McTavish. — Number  of  witnesses. — Their  ignorance. — Amount  claimed. — Original 
stock. — Value  of  land  in  Oregon. — Estimate  of  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  prop 
erty. — Remarks  of  author 81 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Quotation  from  Mr.  Swan. — His  mistake. — General  Gibbs'  mistake. — Kamaiyahkan.- — 
Indian  agent  killed. — J.  J.  Stevens  misjudged 92 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Review  of  Mr.  Greenhow's  work  in  connection  with  the  conduct  and  policy  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Compan}1-. — Schools  and  missionaries. — Reasons  for  giving  extracts 
from  Mr.  Greenhow's  work. — Present  necessity  for  more  knowledge  about  the 
company 9<> 

CHARTER  XIII. 

Occupants  of  the  country. — Danger  to  outsiders. — Description  of  missionaries 106 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Missionary  outfit. — On  the  way. — No  roads. — An  English  nobleman. — A  wagon  taken 
along. — Health  of  Mrs.  Spalding. — Meeting  mountain  men  and  Indians. — A  feast 
to  the  Indians 113 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Arrival  at  American  rendezvous. — An  Indian  procession. — Indian  curiosity  to  see  white 
women. — Captain  N.  Wyeth. — McCleod  and  T.  McKay. — Description  of  mountain 
men. — Their  opinion  of  the  missionaries 121 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Missionaries  travel  in  company  with  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  party, — The  Lawyer's 
kindness. — Arrival  at  Fort  Hall. — Description  of  the  country. — The  Salmon  In 
dians. — The  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  tariff. 130 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

An  explanation. — Instructions  of  company. — Their  tyranny. — Continuation  of  journey. — 
Fording  rivers. — Arrival  at  Boise. — Dr.  Whitman  compelled  to  leave  his  wagon.  136 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 

Arrival  at  Fort  Wallawalla. — Reception. — The  fort  in  1836. — Voyage  down  the  Colum 
bia  River. — Portage  at  Celilo. — At  Dalles.  —A  storm. — The  Flatheads. — Portage  at 
the  Cascades 142 


CONTENTS.  7 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Fort  Vancouver  in  1836. — An  extra  table. — Conditions  on  which  cattle  were  supplied 
to  settlers. — Official  papers. — Three  organizations Page  150 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Settlers  in  1836. — Wallamet  Cattle  Company. — What  good  have  the  missionaries  done  ? 
— Rev.  J.  Lee  and  party. — The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  recommend  the  Wal 
lamet. — Rev.  S.  Parker  arrives  at  Vancouver 154. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Arrival  of  Rev.  Mr.  Beaver  and  wife. — His  opinion  of  the  company. — A  double-wedding. 
— Mrs.  Spalding  and  Mrs.  Whitman  at  Vancouver. — Men  explore  the  country  and 
locate  stations. — Their  opinion  of  the  country. — Indian  labor. — A  winter  trip  down 
Snake  River 162 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

The  French  and  American  settlers. — Hudson's  Bay  Company's  traveling  traders. — The 
Flatheads. — Their  manner  of  traveling. — Marriage. — Their  honesty. — Indian  fight 
and  scalp  dance. — Fight  with  the  Sioux. — At  Council  Bluffs 169 

CHAPTER   XXIII. 

Re-enforcement  to  the  Methodist  Mission. — Re-enforcement  to  the  mission  of  the  Ameri 
can  Board 175 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 

Arrival  of  Jesuit  missionaries. — Toupin's  statement  about  Rev.  A.  B.  Smith. — "Death  of 
Mrs.  Jason  Lee. — First  express. — Jesuits  at  work. — The  first  printing-press. — The 
Catholic  tree 180 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Independent  missionaries  arrive. — Their  troubles. — Conversion  of  Indians  at  the  Dalles. 
— Their  motives. — Emigrants  of  1839. — Blubber-Mouth  Smith. — Re-enforcement  of 
the  Methodist  Mission  in  1840. — Father  De  Smet. — Rev.  Harvey  Clark  and  asso 
ciates, — Ewing  Young. — Names  of  missionaries  and  settlers 185 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

1840. — Petition  to  Congress  of  United  States. — British  subjects  amenable  to  the  laws  of     \ 
Canada. — Mr.  Douglas  as  justice  of  the  peace. — Mr.  Leslie  as  judge 193 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Death  of  Ewing  Young. — First  public  attempt  to  organize  a  provisional  government. — 
Origin  of  the  provisional  government. — First  Oregon  schooner ]  99 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Lee  and  HSnes  explore  the  Umpqua  River. — Mr.  Hines  tells  a  story. — Massacre  and 
plunder  of  Smith's  party  by  the  Indians. — Sympathy  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company. — Extract  from  the  San  Francisco  Bulletin 205 

CHAPTER   XXIX. 

Missionaries    leaving. — Hudson's    Bay    Company's    Gold    Exchange. — Population    inl/ 
1842. — Whitman   and   Lovejoy   start   for   the    States. — The   Red   River    emigra 
tion. — American  merchants. — Settlers  not  dependent  on  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany. — Milling   Company. — The    Oregon   Institute. — Dr.   Elijah  White. — Proceed 
ings  at  a  public  meeting. — Correspondence  with  the  War  Department 211 


3  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXX 

Dispatch  of  Dr.  White  to  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs. — He  praises  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company. — His  account  of  the  Indians. — Indian  outrages. — Dr.  White's  expe 
dition  to  the  Nez  Perces. — Indian  council. — Speeches. — Electing  a  chief. — Laws  of 
the  Nez  Perces.— Visit  to  the  Cayuses. — Doings  of  the  missionaries. — Drowning 
of  Mr.  Rogers  and  family. — George  Geere. — Volcanoes. — Petition  against  Governor 
McLaughlin ' Page  218 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Letter  of  H.  H.  Spalding  to  Dr.  White. — Account  of  his  mission  among  the  Nez 
Perces. — Schools. — Cultivation. — Industrial  arts. — Moral  character. — Arable  land. 
— Letter  of  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  to  the  Secretary  of  War 23-1 

CHAPTER    XXXII. 

Dr.  E.  White's  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War. — Excitement  among  the  Indians. — Visit 
to  Nez  Perces,  Cayuses,  and  Wallawallas. — Destitution  and  degradation  of  the 
Coast  Indians. — Dr.  White  eulogizes  Governor  McLaughlin  and  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company. — Schools  and  missions. — Mr.  Jesse  Applegate. — Dr.  White's  second 
letter. — Letters  of  Peter  H.  Hatch  and  W.  H.  Wilson. — Seizure  of  a  distillery. — 
Search  for  liquor. — Letter  of  James  D.  Saules. — Fight  with  Indians. — Death  of 
Cockstock.r— Description  and  character  of  him. — The  Molallos  and  Klamaths. — 
Agreement  with  the  Dalles  Indians. — Presents  to  Cockstock's  widow. — Dr.  White's 
third  letter.— Letter  of  Eev.  G.  Hines  to  Dr.  White.— Letter  of  W.  Medill 241 

CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

First  council  to  organize  a  provisional  government. — Library  founded. — Origin  of  the 
Wolf  Association. — The  Methodist  Mission  influence. — Dr.  White  exhibits  his 
credentials. — First  "  wolf  meeting." — Proceedings  of  the  second  "wolf  meeting." — 
Officers. — Resolutions. — Bounties  to  be  paid. — Resolution  to  appoint  a  committee 
of  twelve  for  the  civil  and  military  protection  of  the  settlement. — Names  of  the 
members  of  the  committee 260 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

First  meeting  of  the  committee  of  twelve. — All  invited  to  participate. — The  Rev.  J.  Lee 
and  Mr.  Abernethy  ridicule  the  organization. — Mr.  Lee  tells  a  story. — Letter  from 
Governor  Abernethy. — The  main  question  at  issue. — Drowning  of  Cornelius  Rogers 
and  party. — Conduct  of  Dr.  White. — Methodist  Mission. — Catholic  boasts  of  con 
versions 268 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Meetings  to  oppose  organization. — Address  of  the  French-Canadians. — Criticisms  on  it 
by  the  author. — The  Jesuits. — Jesuit  oath. — Article  from  Cincinnati  Beacon.. .  273 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

The  meeting  at  Champoeg. — Tactics  of  the  Jesuit  party. — Counter-tactics  of  the  Ameri 
cans. — A  division  and  its  result. — Public  record. — Opposition  to  clergymen  as 
legislators. — Mr.  Hines  as  an  historian. — His  errors. — Importance  of  Mr.  Hines' 
history. — Difficulty  among  the  Indians. — Cause  of  the  difficulty 279 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

Whitman's  visit  to  Washington. — A  priest's  boast. — A  taunt,  and  Whitman's  reply. — 
Arrival  in  Washington. — Interview  '.with  Secretary  Webster. — With  President 
Tyler. — His  return. — Successful  passage  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  with  two  hun 
dred  wagons. — His  mill  burned  during  his  absence  288 


CONTENTS.  9 

CHAPTER    XXXVIIL 

Petition  of  the  citizens  of  Oregon  iii  1843. — Complaints  against  the  Hudson's  Bay    • 
Company. — The  Milling  Company. — Kicking  the  half-bushel. — Land  claims  of  Dr.    ! 
McLaughlin. — Names  of  the  signers. — Reasons  for  not  signing. — Notice,  deed,  and 
bond  of  John  McLaughlin. — Claim  of  Alvin  F.  Waller ' Page  292 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

Extracts  from  Mr.  Hines'  history. — Attempt  to  capture  an  Indian  horse-thief. — Dr. 
McLaughlin  refuses  to  sell  supplies  to  the  signers  of  the  petition. — Excitement  in 
the  settlement. — Interview  with  Dr.  McLaughlin  at  Vancouver 304 

CHAPTER  XL. 

A.  combination  of  facts. — Settlers  alive  to  their  danger. — Mr.  Hines'  disparagement  of 
the  Methodist  Mission. — Indians  want  pay  for  being  whipped. — Indian  honesty. — 
Mr.  Hines1  opinion  of  the  Indians'  religion. — Mr.  G-eiger's  advice. — Dr.  McLaughlin's 
answer  to  Yellow  Serpent. — Baptiste  Doreo. — Four  conflicting  influences 309 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

Governor  Simpson  and  Dr.  Whitman  in  Washington. — Interviews  with  Daniel  Webster 
and  President  Tyler. — His  cold  reception  in  Boston  by  the  American  Board. — 
Conducts  a  large  emigration  safely  across  the  Rocky  Mountains  into  Oregon. — The 
"  Memorial  Half-Century  Volume." — The  Oregon  mission  ignored  by  the  American 
Board. — Dr.  McLaughlin. — His  connection  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. — 
Catholic  Cayuses'  manner  of  praying. — Rev.  C.  Eells. — Letter  from  A.  L.  Lovejoy. 
— Description  of  Whitman's  and  Lovejoy's  winter  journey  from  Oregon  to  Bent's 
Fort  on  the  Arkansas  River 315 

CHAPTER  XLIL 

Assembly  of  the  Nez  Perces,  Cayuses,  and  Wallawallas. — Mock  fight. — Council  with 
the  Indians. — Speeches  by  Yellow  Serpent,  Tilokaikt,  the  Prince,  and  Illutin. — 
The  secret  of  the  whole  difficulty. — John,  the  Kanaka, — A  cow  for  a  horse. — Kill 
ing  of  a  medicine  woman 328 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 

The  Legislative  Committee  of  nine. — Hon.  Robert  Moore,  chairman. — Description 
of  the  members. — Minutes  of  their  proceedings. — Dr.  R.  Newell,  his  character. — 
Two  specimens  of  his  speeches. — The  dark  clouds. 336 

CHAPTER  XLIY. 

Fourth  of  July,  1843. — Oration  by  Mr.  Hines. — Meeting  of  July  5. — Debate  on  the 
land  law. — How  the  Jesuits  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  secured  their  land 
claims. — Speech  of  the  Rev.  G-.  Hines  against  the  proposed  Executive  Committee. 
— The  committee  supported  by  O'Neil,  Shortess,  and  Lee. — W.  H.  G-ray  closes  the 
debate. — The  report  of  the  committee  adopted. — Committee  appointed  to  report  to 
Congress,  another  to  niake  a  Digest  of  Territorial  laws,  and  a  third  to  prepare  and 
administer  an  oath  of  office 346 

CHAPTER  XLV. 

Organic  laws. — Resolutions. — Districts. — Militia  law. — Land  claims. — Certificate.. .  353 

CHAPTER  XLYI. 

Description  of  the  State  House. — Conduct  of  the  French  settlers. — Arrival  of  Dr.  Whit-     yS^ 
man's  party  of  immigrants. — Prosperity  of  the  settlers. — Change  in  the  policy  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. — Their  exorbitant  claims 360 


10  CONTEXTS. 

CHAPTER  XL VII. 

Actions  speak  louder  than  words. — Efforts  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  discourage 
immigration. — Account  of  the  two  Jesuits,  F.  N.  Blanchet  and  P.  J.  De  Sraet. — 
Protestant  missionaries  discouraged. — Important  position  of  the  Rev.  G.  Hines. — 
Eecall  of  the  Rev.  Jason  Lee. — Efforts  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  prevent 
emigration  to  the  Territory. — Statement  of  General  Palmer. — Indian  combinations. 
— The  Donner  party. — Extent  of  Oregon  at  this  time Page  363 

CHAPTER  XLYIII. 

]  844. — The  settlements  alarmed. — Indian  attack. — Death  of  G.  "W.  Le  Breton. — Meeting 
at  Mr.  La  Chapelle's. — Volunteer  company  formed. — The  Mod&ste  in  the  Columbia 
River. — The  Legislative  Assembly. — Names  of  the  members. — Peter  H.  Burnett. — 
Mr.  David  Hill. — Oregon  social  standard. — M.  M.  McCarver. — "  Old  Brass  Gun."— 
A.  L.  Lovejoy. — Daniel  Waldo. — Thomas  D.  Keizer. — Black  act. — Prohibitory 
liquor  law 371 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 

i  the  message. — Generosity  of 
>n. — The  Oregon  Printing-press 

OOfk 


Message  of  the  Executive  Committee. — Observations  on  the  message. — Generosity  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. — The  Methodist  Mission. — The  Oregon  Printing-press 
Association. — George  Abernethy,  Esq 380 


CHAPTER  L. 

Dr.  "White's  report. — Seizure  and  destruction  of  a'distillery. — Homicide  of  Joel  Turnham 
— State  of  the  Territory. — Trials  of  Dr.  White. — The  liquor  law. — Revenue  act. — 
Case  of  the  negro  Saul. — The  Indians  kill  an  ox. — Other  Indian  difficulties. — Indian 
expedition  to  California. — Death  of  the  Indian  Elijah. — State  of  the  Territory. — 
Claim  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Columbia. — Letter 
of  Peter  H.  Burnett. — The  Nez  Perces  and  Cayuses. — Extract  from  the  report  of 
the  United  States  Senate 387 

CHAPTER  LI. 

1845. — Public  meetings  to  elect  delegates  to  convention. — Candidates  for  governor. — 
Members  elected  to  the  Legislative  Committee. — Oath  of  office. — Mr.  Applegate's 
announcement. — Dr.  McLaughlin's  amphibiousness. — Description  of  the  members 
of  the  Legislative  Committee. — Business  of  the  session. — Ermatinger's  election  con 
tested. — Mr.  Garrison's  resolutions. — Anti-slavery  resolution. — Organic  law  revised, 
— Improvements  and  condition  of  the  country 421 

CHAPTER    LH. 

1845. — Second  session  of  the  Legislative  Committee. — Mr.  McCarver  removed  from  the 
office  of  Speaker. — Mr.  Applegate's  resolutions. — Protest  of  Gray,  Foisy,  and 
Straight. — A  legislative  incident. — Law  against  dueling. — Dr.  White  addresses  the 
Legislature. — Resolutions. — Dr.  White  denies  the  right  of  the  settlers  to  organize 
a  provisional  government. — McCarver  signs  documents  without  authority. — Reso 
lutions  by  the  house  on  the  subject. — Impertinent  letter  from  Dr.  White  to  the 
house. — White  cornered  by  President  Polk. — Incidents  in  White's  temperance 
movements. — Proposition  to  repeal  all  laws  for  the  collection  of  debts. — The  Cur 
rency  act. — Adjournment  of  the  Legislature  in  August. — Meets  again  in  December. 
— Proposal  to  locate  the  capital 428 

CHAPTER  LIII. 

The  liquor  law. — Amended  act  of  1845. — Message  of  the  governor  on  the  same. — Repeal 
of  the  prohibitory  and  passage  of  the  license  law. — Letter  of  James  Douglas. — 
Reply  of  Mr.  Samuel  Parker. — Dr.  Tolmie's  resolution  on  the  judiciary. — The 


CONTENTS. 

governor's  veto  of  the  license  law, — Immigration  for  Oregon  and  California  in  1846. 
— Arrival  of  the  brig  Henry. — The  Oregon  Printing  Association. — The  Spectator, 
the  first  newspaper  in  Oregon. — W.  G.  T.  Vault,  first  editor. — H.  A.  G-.  Lee,  second 
editor. — G-.  L.  Curry,  third  editor. — Judge  Wait,  fourth  editor Page  440 

CHAPTER    LIV. 

The  "Whitman  massacre. — Narratives  of,  by  J.  B.  A.  Brouillet  and  J.  Ross  Browne. — 
Extract  from  the  New  York  Evangelist. — Statements  of  Father  Brouillet  criticised. 
— Testimony  of  John  Kimzey. — Dr.  Whitman  at  Umatilla. — Returns  home. . .  457 

CHAPTER  LV. 

Occupations  of  the  victims  immediately  before  the  massacre. — Description  of  the  mis 
sion  buildings. — The  Doctor  called  into  the  kitchen  to  be  murdered. — Joe  Lewis, 
the  leader  in  the  massacre. — The  scene  outside. — The  Doctor's  house  plundered. — - 
Mrs.  Whitman  shot. — Brutalities  to  the  dead  and  dying, — Escape  of  some  and 
murder  of  others. — Safety  of  the  French  Papists  and  the  servants  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company. — Fate  of  Joe  Lewis 466 

CHAPTER  LVL 

Comments  on  Vicar-General  Brouillet's  arguments  against  the  Whitman  massacre  being 
the  act  of  Catholics. — Joe  Stanfield :  Brouillet's  story  in  his  favor. — Murders  on 
the  second  day. — Deposition  of  Daniel  Young. — -.More  murders 472 


y, 


CHAPTER   LVII. 


How  the  country  was  saved  to  the  United  States. — Article  from  the  New  York  Evening 
Post — Ingratitude  of  the  American  Board. — Deposition  of  Elam  Young. — Young 
girls  taken  for  Indian  wives. — Statement  of  Miss  Lorinda  Bewley. — Sager,  Bewley, 
and  Sales  killed 480 

CHAPTER  LVIIL 

Vicar-General  Brouillet's  statement. — Statement  of  Istacus. — The  priest  finds  the  poison. 
— Statement  of  William  G-eiger,  Jr. — Conduct  of  Mr.  McBean. — Influence  of  the 
Jesuit  missions 490 

CHAPTER  LIX. 

Continuation  of  Miss  Bewley's  evidence. — The  priests  refuse  her  protection. — Forcibly 
taken  from  the  bishop's  house  by  Five  Crows. — Brouillet  advises  her  to  remain  with 
her  Indian  violator. — Indecent  question  by  a  priest. — Mr.  Brouillet  attempts  to  get 
a  statement  from  her. — Two  questions. — Note  from  Mrs.  Bewley. — Bishop  Blan- 
chet's  letter  to  Governor  Abernethy. — Comments  on  the  Jesuits'  proceedings. — 
Grand  council  at  the  bishop's. — Policy  in  forcing  Miss  Bewley  to  Five  Crows' 
lodge. — Speeches  by  Camaspelo  and  Tilokaikt. — Killing  of  Elijah  and  the  Nez 
Perce  chief  commented  on. — The  true  story  told. — Dr.  White's  report. — The  grand 
council  again. — Review  of  Brouillet's  narrative. — Who  were  the  real  authors  of 
the  massacre, 497 

CHAPTER  LX, 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  and  the  priests'  part  in  the  massacre. — McBean's  mes 
senger. — Plot  divulged  to  Hinman,  Ogden,  and  Douglas. — Douglas's  remark  to 
Hinman. — McBean's  letter. — His  perversion  of  facts. — Comments. — Sir  James 
Douglas's  letter  to  Governor  Abernethy. — His  Sandwich  Islands  letter. — Its  false 
hood  and  absurdity. — Mr.  Hinman's  letter  to  Governor  Abernethy. — The  dates. — 
Assertion  of  Robert  Newell. — Hudson's  Bay  Company  v.  United  States 517 


12  CONTENTS. 

X 


CHAPTER  LXI. 

Preliminary  events  of  the  Cayuse  war. — Message  of  Governor  Abernethy. — Journal 
of  the  house. — Resolutions. — Assembling  of  the  people  at  the  call  of  the  gov 
ernor. — Enlisting  of  men. — Names  of  the  volunteers. — Names  of  the  officers. — 
Their  flag. — Their  departure. — Letter  to  Sir  James  Douglas. — His  reply. — Commis 
sioners  return. — Address  to  the  citizens. — Public  meeting. — Report  of  commis 
sioners  to  the  Legislature. — Messenger  sent  to  Washington. — Memorial  to  Con 
gress. — Champoeg  County  tax. — Strength  of  the  settlement  called  for. — Bishop 
Blanchet's  letter  to  Governor  Abernethy Page  535 

CHAPTER    LXII. 

The  Cayuse  war. — Letter  of  Captain  Lee. — Indians  friendly  with  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company. — Conduct  of  Mr.  Ogden. — His  letters  to  Mr.  Walker  and  Mr.  Spalding. 
— Note  of  Rev.  G.  H.  Atkinson. — Sir  James  Douglas's  letter  to  Governor 
Abernethy. — A  rumor. — The  governor's  reply. — Another  letter  from  Sir  James. — 
Mr.  Ogden. — Extraordinary  presents  to  the  Indians  of  arms  and  ammunition. — 
Colonel  Gilliam's  campaign. — Indian  fight. — Property  captured. — The  Des  Chutes 
Indians  make  peace.— -Captain  McKay's  company  of  British  subjects  join  the  army. 
— A  nuisance. — "  Veritas." — Nicholas  Finlay  gives  the  signal  for  battle. — Running 
fight. — Captain  McKay's  company. — Council  held  by  the  peace  commissioners  with 
the  Indians. — Governor  Abernethy's  address. — Speeches  of  the  Indians  Camas- 
pelo,  Joseph,  Jacob,  Old  James,  Red  Wolf,  Timothy,  Richard,  and  Kentuck. — < 
Letters  of  Joel  Palmer,  R.  Newell,  James  Douglas,  and  William  McBean. — Who  is 
responsible  for  the  Cayuse  war  ? 549 

CHAPTER  LXIII. 

Letter  to  General  Lovejoy. — Call  for  men  and  ammunition. — Yankama  chief. — His 
speech. — Small  supply  of  ammunition. — Letter  of  Joseph  Cadwallader. — Claim  and  a 
girl. — Combined  Indian  tribes. — Ladies  of  Oregon. — Public  meeting. — A  noble 
address. — Vote  of  thanks. — Address  of  the  young  ladies. — Death  of  Colonel  Gilliam. 
— His  campaign. — Colonel  Waters'  letter. — Doubtful  position  of  Indians. — Number 
at  Fort  Wallawalla. — Results  of  the  war. — Jesuit  letters. — Fathers  Hoikin  and  De 
Smet. — The  Choctaws. — Indian  confederacy. — Last  hope  of  the  Indian. — Jesuit 
policy. — The  Irish  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion. — Father  Hecker. — Boasts  of  the 
Jesuits. — Letter  of  Lieutenant  Rogers. — Priests  supply  the  Indians  with  arms  and 
ammunition. — Ammunition  seized. — Oregon  Argus. — Discovery  of  gold. — No  help 
for  the  Indian. — Withdrawal  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  Vancouver. — The 
smooth-tongued  Jesuits  yet  remain 568 

CHAPTER  LXIV. 

Missions  among  the  Western  Indians. — The  Cceur  d' Alene  Mission. — Protestant  and 
Catholic  missions  compared. — What  the  American  Protestant  missionaries  have 
done  for  the  country  and  the  Indians. — Extent  of  their  influence,  progress,  and 
improvements. — Patriotism  of  Dr.  Whitman 593 

CHAPTER  LXV. 

Description  of  the  face  of  the  country. — Agricultural  and  mining  productions. — Timber. 
— The  Wallamet. — Columbia, — Dalles. — Upper  Columbia. — Mountains. — Rivers. — 
Mineral  wealth, — Climate. — The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad. — Conclusion 610 


HISTORY    OF    OREGON. 


CHAPTER  I. 

First  discovery  of  the  river. — Natives  friendly. — British  ship. — Brig  Jennet. — Snow  Sea 
Otter. — The  Globe. — Alert. — Guatimozm. — Atahualpa. — Lewis  and  Clarke. — Vancou 
ver. — Hamilton. — Derby. — Pearl. — Albatross. — First  house  built  in  1810. — Astor's. 
settlement. — The  Tonquin. — Astor's  Company  betrayed  to  the  Northwest  Com 
pany. 

IN  all  countries  it  is  difficult  to  trace  the  history  of  their  early  discovery 
and  settlement.  That  of  Oregon  is  no  exception.  The  Spanish  claim, 
and  it  is  generally  conceded,  that  they  were  the  discoverers  of  the  coast, 
and  gave  names  to  the  principal  capes  and  to  Fuca's  Straits.  No 
evidence  can  be  found  in  national  archives,  or  among  the  native  tribes 
of  the  country,  that  gives  the  discovery  of  the  Columbia  River  to  any 
civilized  people  but  to  the  Bostons  (Americans) ;  so  that,  so  far  as  civil 
history  or  national  testimony  is  concerned,  we  are  without  any,  except 
the  conjectures  of  men  as  ignorant  as  ourselves.  Hence  we  are  left  to  the 
alternative  of  searching  the  old  logs  of  vessels  and  such  old  books  as 
have  been  written,  and,  in  connection  with  the  legends  and  statements 
of  the  aborigines  of  the  country,  form  an  opinion  as  to  its  discovery, 
and  from  such  dates  and  conclusions  commence  its  civil  history.  That  / 
of  Oregon  begins  eight  years  previous  to  the  commencement  of  the 
present  century. 

A  ship,  owned  by  Messrs.  Barrel!,  Bulfinch  &  Co.,  of  Boston,  and 
commanded  by  Captain  Robert  Gray,  discovered  and  entered  the 
mouth  of  the  third  great  river  upon  the  American  continent.  It  then 
had  no  name  known  to  the  civilized  world.  This  unselfish  American, 
instead  of  following  the  example  of  many  contemporary  British  navi 
gators  by  giving  his  own  name  to  the  majestic  river  he  had  discovered, 
I  gave  it  that  of  his  noble  ship,  Columbia. 

On  the  7th  of  May,  1792,  he  discovered  and  ran  in  abreast  of  Cape 
Hancock,  and  anchored,  and  on  the  llth  ran  ten  miles  up  this  river  on 
the  north  side,  which  is  now  known  as  a  little  above  Chinook  Point, 
and  at  1  p.  M.  they  came  to  anchor.  On  the  14th  they  weighed 


14  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

anchor  and  ran,  according  to  the  ship's  log,  fifteen  miles,  which  would 
bring  them  up  abreast  of  Tongue  Point,  where  their  ship  grounded 
upon  a  sand  bar  for  a  short  time,  but  they  backed  her  off  into  three 
fathoms  of  water  and  anchored.  By  sounding  they  discovered  that 
there  was  not  sufficient  water  to  pass  up  the  river  in  their  present 
channel.  Having  filled  all  their  water-casks,  repaired,  painted,  and  calked 
the  ship,  .arid  allWe'd^he-vast  numbers  of  Indians  that  thronged  around 
them  in  the  most  peaceable  and  friendly  manner,  to  visit  and  traffic 
•witja-them;  txi  the  20th  of  May,  1792,  they  went  to  sea  again. 
I  On  the  20th  of  October  of  this  year,  the  Chatham,  commanded  by 
!  Captain  Broughton,  of  the  British  navy,  entered  the  river.  He  grounded 
his  ship  on  what  is  now  called  the  Sulphur  Spit,  and  found  in  the  bay 
the  brig  Jennet,  Captain  Baker,  from  Bristol,  Rhode  Island.  Captain 
Broughton  explored  the  river  in  his  small  boat  as  high  up  as  the  present 
site  of  Vancouver,  and  left  the  river  with  his  ship  on  the  10th  of 
November. 

In  1797,  five  years  later,  the  snow  Sea  Otter -,  Captain  Hill,  from 
Boston,  visited  the  river. 

In  1798,  the  ship  Hazard,  Swift,  master,  owned  by  Perkins,  Lamb 
&  Co.,  Boston,  visited  the  river.  This  same  ship  visited  the  river  again 
in  1801. 

In  1802,  this  same  Boston  company  sent  the  ship  Globe,  Magee, 
master,  to  the  river. 

During  the  year  1802,  a  brisk,  and  something  like  a  permanent 
American  trade  appears  to  have  been  in  contemplation  by  this  Boston 
company.  They  sent  the  ship  Caroline,  Derby,  master,  from  Boston, 
and  the  ship  Manchester,  Brice,  master,  from  Philadelphia. 

In  1803,  Lamb  &  Company  sent  the  ship  Alert,  Ebbets,  master;  also 
the  ship  Vancouver,  Brown,  master.  This  year,  the  ship  Juno,  Ken- 
dricks,  master,  from  Bristol,  Rhode  Island,  owned  by  De  Wolf,  entered 
the  Columbia  River  for  trade. 

In  the  year  1804,  Theodore  Lyman  sent  the  ship  Guatimozin,  Bum- 
sted,  master,  from  Boston.  The  Perkins  Company  sent  the  ship  Hazard, 
Swift,  master,  to  the  river  the  same  year. 

In  1805,  Lyman  &  Company  sent  the  ship  Atahualpa,  O.  Potter, 
master,  from  Boston.  Lamb  &  Company  sent  the  ship  Caroline, 
Sturges,  master,  from  the  same  place. 

On  the  15th  of  November,  1805,  Lewis  and  Clarke,  with  their  party, 
having  crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains  under  the  direction  of  President 
Jefferson,  of  the  United  States,  arrived  at  Cape  Hancock ;  remaining 
but  a  few  days,  they  crossed  the  Columbia  River  and  encamped  near 
the  mouth  of  a  small  river  still  bearing  the  name  of  these  two  explorers. 


LEWIS   AND   CLARKE1S  EXPEDITION".  15 

They  left  their  encampment  in  March,  1806,  and  returned  across  the  ' 
continent  and  reported  the  result  of  their  expedition  to  the  govern 
ment. 

This  expedition  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  soldiers  or 
enlisted  men.  On  arriving  at  the  Mandan  Village,  on  the  Missouri 
River,  in  1804,  they  encountered  the  influence  of  the  Northwest  Brit 
ish  Fur  Company,  who,  on  learning  their  object,  at  once  made  arrange 
ments  to  follow  and  get  possession  of  the  country  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  River. 

In  1806,  soon  after  Lewis  and  Clarke  left  their  encampment  on  their 
return  to  the  United  States,  the  ship  Vancouver,  Brown,  master, 
entered  the  river,  having  been  sent  out  by  Thomas  Lyman,  of  Boston, 
in  expectation  of  meeting  Lewis  and  Clarke's  party  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river.  The  Lamb  Company  sent  the  ship  Pearl  the  same  year,  under 
the  command  of  Captain  Ebbets.  Lyman,  in  addition  to  the  Van 
couver,  sent  the  brig  Lydia,  Hill,  master,  to  the  river,  making  three 
American  ships  from  Boston  in  the  year  1806. 

In  1807,  the  ship  Hamilton  arrived  in  the  river,  sent  by  Thomas 
Lyman,  of  Boston,  L.  Peters,  master.  The  Perkins  Company  sent  the 
Hazard,  Smith,  master. 

In  1808,  the  ship  Derby,  Swift,  master,  sent  by  the  Perkins  Com 
pany.  Lyman  sent  the  ship  G-uatimozin,  Glanville,  master;  both 
made  successful  trips  in  and  out  of  the  river. 

In  1809,  the  Perkins  Company  sent  the  ships  Pearl  and  Vancouver 
into  the  river,  the  former  commanded  by  Smith,  the  latter  by  Whifeti- 
niore. 

In  1810,  the  ship  Albatross,  from  Boston,  T.  Winship,  master,  entered 
the  river  and  sailed  as  high  up  as  Oak  Point,  where  the  captain  erected 
a  house,  cleared  a  piece  of  land  for  cultivation,  and  planted  a  garden. 
This  year,  John  Jacob  Astor,  of  New  York,  organized  the  Pacific  Fur 
Company,  in  connection  with  Wilson  Price  Hunt,  of  New  Jersey.  These  " 
two  gentlemen  admitted  as  partners  in  the  fur  trade,  Messrs.  McKay, 
McDougal,  and  David  and  Robert  Stewart.  These  four  last-mentioned 
partners,  with  eleven  clerks  and  thirteen  Canadian  voyageurs,  and  a 
complete  outfit  for  a  fort,  with  cannon  and  small-arms,  stores,  shops, 
and  houses,  with  five  mechanics,  were  all  embarked  on  the  ship  Ton- 
quin,  Captain  Jonathan  Thorn,  master,  in  September,  1810,  and  sailed 
for  the  Columbia  River,  where  they  arrived,  March  24,  1811. 

The  present  site  of  the  town  of  Astoria  was  selected  as  the  principal 
depot  for  this  American  Fur  Company,  and  called  by  them,  in  honor  of 
the  originator  of  the  company,  ASTORIA.  This  establishment  was  soon 
in  full  operation.  The  timber  and  thick  undergrowth  within  musket 


16  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

range  of  the  establishment  were  cleared  away,  and  a  kitchen-garden 
planted  outside  the  stockade. 

In  the  highly-interesting  narrative  of  Gabriel  Franchere,  we  read 
that,  "in  the  month  of  May,  1811,  on  a  rich  piece  of  land  in  front  of 
our  establishment  [at  Astoria],  we  put  into  the  ground  twelve  potatoes, 
BO  shriveled  up  during  the  passage  from  New  York  that  we  despaired 
of  raising  any  from  the  few  sprouts  that  still  showed  signs  of  life. 
Nevertheless,  we  raised  one  hundred  and  nineteen  potatoes  the  first 
season.  And,  after  sparing  a  few  plants  to  our  inland  traders,  we 
planted  fifty  or  sixty  hills,  which  produced  five  bushels  the  second  year ; 
about  two  of  these  were  planted,  and  gave  us  a  welcome  crop  of  fifty 
bushels  in  the  year  1813." 

They  were  cultivated  at  Astoria,  by  the  old  Northwest  and  Hudson's 
Bay  companies,  in  their  little  fort  gardens.  A  few  Indian  chiefs  were 
presented  with  the  seed,  but  no  general  distribution  was  made  among 
them,  as  they  were  considered  as  the  Bostons'  root,  and  no  better  than 
those  of  the  Indians,  abounding  in  the  country,  which  required  less 
labor  to  cultivate.  Up  to  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  American  mis 
sionaries,  there  never  was  an  extra  supply  of  potatoes  in  the  country. 
In  other  words,  the  potato  was  a  luxury  enjoyed  by  none  except  the 
highest  grades  of  the  Fur  Company's  servants  and  distinguished 
visitors ;  its  cultivation  was  not  generally  encouraged  by  the  company. 

In  October,  1810,  after  dispatching  the  Tonguin,  Mr.  Astor  fitted  out 
the  ship  Beaver,  twenty  guns,  Captain  Sowles,  master,  with  Mr.  Clark, 
six  clerks,  and  a  number  of  other  persons,  to  join  the  establishment  at 
Astoria.  The  ship  touched  at  the  Sandwich  Islands;  Mr.  Clark  en 
gaged  twenty-six  Kanakas  as  laborers  for  the  establishments  on  the 
Columbia  River,  where  the  ship  arrived,  May  5,  1812. 
,  On  the  15th  of  July,  181 3,  Mr.  David  Thompson,  under  the  direction 
of  the  Northwest  Canadian  British  Company,  arrived  at  Astoria.  I 
use  the  word  Canadian,  as  applied  to  the  Northwest  Fur  Company, 
that  was  established  by  the  charter  of  Louis  XIII.  of  France,  1630,  in 
what  was  then  called  Acadia,  or  New  France,  forty  years  before  Charles 
of  England  gave  his  charter  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  This 
Northwest  Fur  Company,  in  the  transfer  of  the  sovereignty  of  Acadia, 
or  New  France,  to  England,  in  1714,  at  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  was 
acknowledged  as  having  a  legal  existence,  by  both  nations,  and  was 
allowed  to  transfer  its  allegiance  and  continue  its  trade  under  the  pro 
tection  of  the  British  sovereign,  as  it  had  done  under  that  of  France. 

As  soon  as  the  government  and  people  of  the  United  States  entered 
upon  active  measures  to  explore  and  occupy  the  country  west  of  the 
Kocky  Mountains,  this  Canadian  Northwest  Fur  Company  dispatched 


SETTLEMENT   OF  ASTORIA.  17 

Mr.  Thompson  to  explore  the  Columbia  River,  and  make  an  establish 
ment  at  its  mouth ;  but,  on  account  of  delays  and  mistaking  the  course 
of  the  various  rivers  through  which  the  party  traveled,  Mr.  Thompson 
did  not  arrive  at  Mr.  Astor's  American  establishment  till  in  July,  1813  ; 
his  object  Avas  to  forestall  Mr.  Astor  in  the  settlement  of  the  country. 
He  was  received,  kindly  treated,  and  furnished  with  such  goods  and 
supplies  as  he  and  his  party  required,  by  Mr.  McDougal,  who  was  then 
in  charge  of  Fort  Astor,  and,  in  company  with  David  Stewart,  returned 
as  high  up  the  Columbia  as  the  Spokan, — Mr.  Greenhow  says  Okana- 
gon, — and  established  a  trading-post,  while  Mr.  Thompson  went  among 
the  Kootenai  and  Flathead  tribes,  and  established  a  trading-hut.  It 
is  due  to  those  parties  to  state  that  as  late  as  1836,  a  squai-e,  solid, 
hewed  log  bastion,  erected  by  Stewart's  party,  was  still  standing  at 
Spokan,  while  no  vestige  of  the  Thompson  huts  could  be  found  in  the 
Flathead  country.  At  Spokan,  garden  vegetables  were  produced 
about  the  fort,  which  the  Indians  in  that  vicinity  learned  to  appreciate, 
and  continued  to  cultivate  after  the  fort  was  abandoned  in  1825,  having 
been  occupied  by  the  Northwest  and  Hudson's  Bay  companies  till  that 
time. 

In  the  spring  of  1811,  the  chief  agent  of  the  Pacific  Fur  Company, 
Mr.  Hunt,  with  other  partners,  Crooks,  McKenzie,  and  McClellen,  with 
a  party  of  sixty  men,  started  across  the  continent.  They  were  ex 
tremely  annoyed  by  the  opposition  fur  traders  on  their  route,  and  also 
by  hostile  Indians.  Such  of  the  party  as  did  not  perish  by  famine  and 
hostile  Indians,  and  British  fur  traders,  arrived  at  Astoria  on  the  28th 
of  January,  1812. 

On  the  5th  of  May  following  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Hunt's  party,  the 
ship  Beaver  arrived  with  the  third  installment  of  traders,  clerks,  and 
Kanaka  laborers.  In  consequence  of  the  loss  of  the  ship  Tonqwin, 
and  all  on  board  except  the  Indian  interpreter,  in  the  Cliquot  Bay, 
near  the  entrance  of  the  Straits  of  Fuca,  by  the  treachery  of  the  In 
dians  in  the  vicinity,  Mr.  Hunt  embarked  in  the  Beaver  for  the  Rus 
sian  establishment  in  August,  1812,  effected  an  arrangement  of  trade 
with  them,  and  dispatched  the  ship  to  China.  He  continued  in  her  till 
she  reached  the  Sandwich  Islands,  where  he  remained  until  June,  1813, 
when  the  ship  Albatross  arrived  from  Canton,  and  brought  the  news 
of  the  war  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  and  also  that 
the  ship  Jjeaver  was  blockaded  at  Canton  by  a  British  ship  of  war. 
Mr.  Hunt  at  once  chartered  the  Albatross  and  sailed  for  the  Columbia 
River,  where  he  arrived  on  the  4th  of  August,  1813. 

On  his  arrival  at  Astoria  he  learned  that  it  was  the  intention  of  his 
partners,  all  of  whom  claimed  to  be  British  subjects  (McDougal  and 
2 


18  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

McKenzie  having  formerly  been  in  the  employ  of  the  Northwest  Com 
pany),  to  sell  to  McTavish,  of  that  company.  Hunt  embarked  in  the 
Albatross  for  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  from  thence  to  the  Washing 
ton  Islands,  where  he  learned  from  Commodore  Porter,  then  at  those 
Islands,  in  the  frigate  Essex,  of  the  design  of  the  British  to  seize  all 
American  property  on  the  Pacific  coast.  From  thence  he  returned  to 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  chartered  the  brig  Pedler,  and  arrived  at 
Astoria  in  February,  1814,  and  learned  that  soon  after  his  departure 
in  the  Albatross,  in  August,  1813,  McTavish,  with  a  party  of  the 
servants  of  the  Northwest  Company,  had  arrived  at  Astoria,  and,  in 
connection  with  McDougal,  McKenzie,  and  Clarke,  on  the  part  of  the 
American  Pacific  Fur  Company,  and  McTavish  and  Alexander  Stew 
art,  on  the  part  of  the  Canadian  Northwest  Company,  had  completed 
the  sale  of  Astoria  to  that  company,  and  secured  for  themselves  im 
portant  positions  in  the  service  of  the  latter  company. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  and  general  historical  interest,  the  amount  and 
value  of  property  thus  transferred  is  here  given  :  Eighteen  thousand  one 
hundred  and  seventy  and  one-fourth  pounds  of  beaver,  at  two  dollars 
per  pound,  selling  in  Canton  at  that  time  at  from  five  to  six  dollars 
per  pound;  nine  hundred  and  seventy  otter  skins,  at  fifty  cents  each, 
selling  at  that  time  in  Canton  for  five  and  six  dollars  per  skin. 

The  expense  of  building  Mr.  Astor's  establishment  at  Astoria,  in 
cluding  those  at  Okanagon  and  Spokan,  with  boats,  bateaux,  tools, 
cannon,  munitions,  goods,  transportation  and  salaries  of  clerks  and  men, 
etc.,  etc.,  was  near  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  for  which  he  received 
in  bills  on  Montreal  about  forty  thousand,  including  the  appraised  value 
of  the  furs  at  the  fort,  which  was  thirty-six  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  thirty-five  dollars  and  fifty  cents  ;  this  would  leave  less  than  three 
thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  dollars  and  fifty  cents  for  the 
improvements,  boats,  munitions,  cannon,  etc.,  for  which  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company,  in  1 865,  claims  of  our  government,  for  the  old, 
rotten,  and  abandoned  post  at  Okanagon,  nineteen  thousand  four  hun 
dred  and  sixty-six  dollars  and  sixty-seven  cents ;  the  post  at  Colville, 
still  held  in  place  of  the  one  built  by  Astor's  company  at  Spokan, 
eighty  thousand  three  hundred  dollars  ;  the  post  at  Fort  George 
(Astoria),  abandoned  in  1849,  four  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
six  dollars  and  sixty-seven  cents ;  in  all,  for  the  three  establishments, 
one  hundred  and  three  thousand  nine  hundred  and  three  dollars  and 
thirty-four  cents, — quite  a.  contrast  between  the  valuation  of  American 
property  when  in  possession  of  British  fur  traders,  having  been  used 
for  forty  years  by  British  subjects,  and  abandoned  as  of  little  or  no  use 
to  their  trade,  and  that  of  American  property  but  lately  brought  into 


ASTOR'S   COMPANY  BETRAYED.  19 

the  country.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Mr.  Aster's  Pacific  Fur  Com 
pany  was  commenced  in  1810;  that  at  the  time  it  was  betrayed  into 
the  possession  of  this  Canadian  Northwest  Fur  Company  it  had  been 
in  operation  but  two  years,  hence  was  new,  and  but  just  ready  to  com 
mence  a  profitable  trade  in  the  country. 

The  contract  transferring  this  valuable  property  from  American  to  ) 
British  owners,  was  signed  on  the  16th  day  of  October,  1813,  by  Dun-  \ 
can  McDougal,  J.  G.  McTavish,  and  J.  Stewart,  and  witnessed  by  the  V 
principal  clerks  of  the  establishment.     On  the  1st  of  December  follow 
ing,  the  British  sloop  of  war  Raccoon,  Captain  Black,  arrived  in  the 
river,  and  proceeded  to  take  formal  possession  of  Astoria,  by  lowering 
the  American  flag  and  hoisting  that  of  Great  Britain  in  its  place,  and 
changing  the  name  of  the  fort  to  that  of  Fort  George. 

Previous  to  the  landing  of  the  British  soldiers,  or  King  George's 
warriors,  an  interview  took  place  (as  related  by  Ross  Cox)  between 
the  Indian  warriors,  with  Concomly,  their  chief,  at  their  head,  and 
McDougal  and  McTavish.  On  the  arrival  of  the  British  war  vessel 
in  Baker's  Bay,  the  Indians,  having  learned  that  there  was  war  between 
the  King  George  people  and  Bostons  (Americans),  they  said,  as  they 
had  always  found  the  Bostons  friendly  and  liberal  toward  them,  they 
were  their  friends,  and  were  ready  to  fight  for  them,  to  prevent  the 
King  George  men  from  making  them  slaves.  They  proposed  to  con 
ceal  themselves  behind  the  rocks  and  trees  outside  of  the  fort  and  to 
kill  the  King  George  soldiers  with  their  arrows  and  spears,  while  the 
men  of  the  fort  fought  the  ship  and  small  boats  which  they  came  in, 
with  their  big  guns  and  rifles.  McDougal  assured  them  that  the  King 
George  warriors  would  not  hurt  them,  and  advised  them  to  be  friendly 
with  them,  as  they  would  do  the  people  of  the  fort  no  harm.  Con 
comly  and  his  warriors  were  only  convinced  that  the  Bostons  would 
not  be  made  slaves  by  the  King  George  warriors  when  they  saw  the 
sloop  leave  the  river  without  taking  any  of  them  away  as  prisoners  or 
slaves. 

The  treachery  of  the  Canadian  part  of  Astor's  company,  which  was 
not  known  to  Mr.  Astor,  but  provided  for  by  the  Northwest  Canadian 
Company  before  the  party  left  Montreal,  and  consummated  by  McDou 
gal  and  his  associates,  in  the  absence  of  the  American  partners  from 
the  post,  is  proved  by  journals,  letters,  and  facts  still  extant. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  country  restored. — The  order. — Description  of  Astoria. — Different  parties. — Xorth- 
west  Fur  Company. — Astor's  plan. — Conflict  of  the  two  British  fur  companies. — 
The  treaties. — The  Selkirk  settlement. — Its  object. — The  company  asserts  char 
tered  rights  as  soon  as  united. 

As  stated  in  our  first  chapter,  the  English  government,  by  its 
Canadian  Northwest  Fur  Company,  and  the  arrival  of  the  British 
sloop  of  war,  Raccoon,  during  the  war  of  1812-13,  took  possession 
of  Oregon,  and  held  it  as  British  territory  till  it  was  formally 
restored  to  the  United  States  on  the  6th  of  October,  1818,  in  these 
words : — 

We,  the  undersigned,  do,  in  conformity  to  the  first  article  of  the 
treaty  of  Ghent,  restore  to  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
through  its  agent,  J.  P.  Provost,  Esq.,  the  settlement  of  Fort  George, 
on  the  Columbia  River. 

Given  under  our  hands  in  triplicate,  at  Fort  George  (Columbia 
River),  this  6th  day  of  October,  1818. 

F.  HICKEY,  Captain  H.  M.  Ship  JBlossom. 
J.  KEITH,  of  the  N.  W.  Co. 

The  order  from  the  Prince  Regent  of  England  to  the  Northwest 
Company  to  deliver  up  the  country  to  the  American  government,  was 
issued  on  January  27,  1818,  and  complied  with  as  above. 

On  the  17th  of  April,  1814,  the  Canadian  Northwest  Fur  Company's 
ship,  Isaac  Todd,  reached  Astoria,  called  Fort  George. 

According  to  the  description  sent  to  Washington  by  Mr.  Provost, 
it  consisted  of  a  stockade  made  of  fir-logs,  twenty  feet  high  above  the 
ground,  inclosing  a  parallelogram  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  by  two 
hundred  and  fifty  feet,  extending  in  its  greatest  length  from  northwest 
to  southeast,  and  defended  by  bastions,  or  towers,  at  two  opposite 
angles.  Within  this  inclosure  were  all  the  buildings  of  the  establish 
ment,  such  as  dwelling-houses,  magazines,  storehouses,  mechanics' 
shops,  etc. 

The  artillery  were  two  heavy  18-pounders,  six  6-pounders,  four 
4-pounders,  two  6-pound  coehorns,  and  seven  swivels,  all  mounted. 


THE   COUNTRY   SEALED   UP.  21 

The  number  of  persons  attached  to  the  place  besides  the  few  native 
women  and  children,  was  sixty-five ;  of  whom  twenty-three  were 
white,  twenty-six  Kanakas,  and  the  remainder  of  mixed  blood  from 
Canada. 

Of  the  party  that  crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains  with  Mr.  Hunt  in 
1811-12,  six  remained  in  the  country,  and  but  five  returned  to  the 
United  States ;  the  remaining  forty-five  that  started  with  him  in  his 
first  expedition  were  mostly  destroyed  by  the  influence  of  the  two 
British  fur  companies  acting  upon  the  Indians  for  that  object. 

These  men,  as  independent  trappers  and  petty  traders  among  the 
Indians,  were  considered  by  those  companies  as  intruders  and  tres 
passers  upon  their  French  and  British  chartered  rights ;  hence  none 
were  allowed  to  remain  in  the  country  but  such  as  were  under  their 
control,  or  subject  to  their  rule. 

From  the  time  the  Northwest  Fur  Company  took  possession  of  the 
country,  with  few  exceptions,  we  have  no  authentic  account  of  the 
number  of  vessels  of  any  nation  that  visited  the  river,  but  we  have 
reason  to  believe  that  they  would  average  two  each  year ;  and,  from 
known  facts,  we  conclude  that  as  soon  as  the  post  at  Astoria  was  be 
trayed  into  the  possession  of  the  Canadian  Northwest  Fur  Company  by 
McDougal  and  associates,  and  the  British  government  had  taken  formal 
possession  of  the  country,  this  Northwest  Company,  with  McDougal 
and  others  equally  prominent,  commenced  to  instill  into  the  minds  of 
the  Indians  a  strong  hatred  of  American  traders  by  sea  or  land,  and 
to  change  as  much,  and  as  fast  as  possible,  the  friendly  feeling  of  the. 
former  toward  the  latter,  so  as  to  continue  to  hold  the  permanent  and 
absolute  sovereignty  of  the  country,  and  make  the  Indians  subservient 
to  their  commercial  interests. 

Mr.  Astor  says  :  "  The  plan  by  me  adopted  was  such  as  must  mate 
rially  have  affected  the  interests  of  the  Northwest  and  Hudson's  Bay 
companies,  and  it  was  easy  to  be  foreseen  that  they  would  employ  every 
means  to  counteract  my  operations,  and  which,  as  my  impression,  I 
stated  to  the  executive  of  your  department  as  early  as  February,  1813." 
This  hatred  of  Americans  had  been  so  assiduously  impressed  upon  the 
minds  of  the  Indians,  that  one  of  their  own  vessels  arriving  in  the  river, 
being  cast  away  on  Sand  Island,  all  on  board  were  murdered  by  the 
Indians,  who  mistook  them  for  Americans.  The  company  sent  a  vessel 
from  Vancouver  (to  which  place  they  had  removed  their  stores  and 
principal  depot)  to  punish  the  Indians,  who  had  secured  most  of  the 
wrecked  property.  The  vessel  came  down  and  sent  shell  and  grape- 
shot  into  the  Indian  village,  destroying  men,  women,  and  children, 
landed  their  men  and  took  such  of  their  goods  as  they  could  find, 


22  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

having  gained  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  murder  of  the  crew  of  the 
ship. 

This  view  of  the  policy  and  practice  of  this  Northwest  and  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  is  further  sustained  by  the  inquiries  which  Mr.  Keith 
felt  it  incumbent  on  him  to  make  of  Mr.  Provost,  on  the  restoration  of 
Astoria  to  the  Americans  by  the  British  authorities. 

Mr.  Keith  was  anxious  to  learn  the  extent  of  the  rights  of  his  com 
pany  to  remain  and  trade  in  the  country.  It  would  seem,  from  the 
whole  history  of  these  companies,  that  they  felt  their  rights  in  the 
country  to  be  but  temporary,  that  they  were  trespassers  upon  Ameri 
can  interests,  and  shaped  all  their  arrangements  accordingly. 

It  is  an  admitted  historical  fact  that,  while  the  Northwest  Fur 
Company  of  Montreal  was  extending  its  trade  across  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  supplanting  the  American  Pacific  Fur  Company  of  Mr. 
Astor,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  with  the  assistance  of  Lord  Sel 
kirk's  Red  River  settlement,  was  cutting  off  their  communication  with 
these  western  establishments,  and  that,  in  consequence  of  this  Red 
River  interference  with  their  trade,  a-  deadly  feud  sprang  up  between 
the  rival  companies,  in  which  both  parties  enlisted  all  the  men  and 
Indians  over  whom  they  had  any  influence,  and  frequently  met  in 
drunken  and  deadly  strife,  till  they  had  quite  destroyed  all  profits  in 
their  trade,  and  rendered  the  Indians  hostile  alike  to  friend  arid  foe  of 
the  white  race.  So  that,  in  1821,  the  British  Parliament  was  compelled 
to  notice  their  proceedings,  and,  on  the  2d  of  July,  1821,  in  an  act  bear- 
•ing  date  as  above,  says  of  them  : — 

"  Whereas,  the  competition  in  the  fur  trade  between  the  governor 
and  company  of  adventurers  of  England  trading  into  Hudson's  Bayt 
and  certain  associations  of  persons  trading  under  the  name  of  the  North 
west  Company  of  Montreal,  has  been  found,  for  some  years  past,  to  be 
productive  of  great  inconvenience  and  loss,  not  only  to  the  said  com 
pany  and  association,  but  to  the  said  trade  in  general,  and  also  of  great 
injury  to  the  native  Indians,  and  of  other  persons  subjects  of  his 
Majesty;  and  whereas,  the  animosities  and  feuds  arising  from  such  com 
petition  have  also,  for  some  years  past,  kept  the  interior  of  America,  to 
the  northward  and  westward  of  the  provinces  of  Upper  and  Lower 
Canada,  and  of  the  Territories  of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  a 
state  of  continual  disturbance;  and  whereas,  many  breaches  of  the  peace 
and  violence  extending  to  the  loss  of  lives  and  considerable  destruction 
of  property  have  continually  occurred  therein,"  etc.  (See  Greenhow's 
History  of  Oregon,  p.  467.) 

The  broad  policy  of  British  fur  traders  is  here  stated  in  plain  lan 
guage  by  their  own  government  in  a  manner  not  to  be  mistaken.  Their 


POLICY   OF   THE   BRITISH   GOVERNMENT.  23 

influence  upon  the  Indians  was  injurious.  Their  policy  toward  each 
other  was  war  and  destruction  to  all  opponents.  The  life  and  prop 
erty  of  an  opposing  trader  must  not,  come  in  competition  with  the 
profits  of  their  trade  with  Indians  in  any  country. 

How  absurd  it  is  for  our  government  to  spend  millions  of  dollars  to 
form  treaties  with  Indians  who  are  constantly  visited  by  these  foreign 
Indian  traders  and  teachers,  emissaries  of  a  foreign  power,  who  never 
breathed  an  honest  breath  or  spoke  a  truthful  word  !  Feeble  and  in 
significant  as  they  were,  from  1813  to  1821  the  whole  Indian  country  of 
North  America  fell  under  their  blighting  and  withering  influence. 
Divided  as  they  were,  they  were  able  to  crush  all  honest  competition, 
and  combine  in  deadly  combat  against  their  own  countrymen  for  the 
supremacy  of  the  Indian  trade.  Have  they  lost  their  power  and  influ 
ence  by  uniting  the  elements  of  opposition  in  one  vast  fur  monopoly  ? 
Nay,  verily,  as  we  shall  see. 

To  gain  a  correct  understanding  of  the  foreign  policy  relative  to  the 
western  portion  of  our  country,  it  will  be  necessary  to  refer  to  the 
early  history  of  the  two  fur  companies,  and  trace  their  connection  with 
France  and  England,  which,  notwithstanding  the  English  government 
had  given  up  the  country  to  France  in  1696  in  the  treaty  of  Ryswick, 
and  no  reservation  was  made  on  account  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany — as  they  did  Oregon  to  the  United  States  in  the  treaty  of  Ghent, 
in  1815,  and  made  no  reservation  on  account  of  the  Northwest  Fur 
Company — still  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  held  on  to  a  single  post, 
called  Albany,  on  the  southwest  part  of  James  Bay,  for  twenty-six 
years,  as  the  Northwest  and  Hudson's  Bay  fur  companies  did  to 
Astoria  and  Oregon  for  forty-nine  years. 

In  the  wording  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  in  1714,  in  which  the  country 
was  given  back  to  England  by  France,  there  is  one  proviso  that  is  not 
to  be  overlooked,  viz. :  "  It  is,  however,  provided,  that  it  may  be  entirely 
free  for  the  company  of  Quebec,  and  all  others  the  subjects  of  the  most 
Christian  king  whatsoever,  to  go,  by  land  or  by  sea,  whithersoever  they 
please,  out  of  the  lands  of  the  said  bay,  together  with  all  their  goods, 
merchandise,  arms,  and  effects,  of  what  nature  or  condition  soever,  ex 
cept  such  things  as  are  above  reserved  in  this  article,"  etc.,  the  ex 
ceptions  referring  to  forts,  cannon,  and  permanent  war  materials. 

This  French  stipulation  in  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  in  1714,  is  repeated 
by  the  English  diplomatist  upon  the  Americans,  in  the  third  article  of 
the  treaty  of  June  15,  1846,  forming  the  basis  of  the  claim  urged 
against  our  government  in  the  treaty  of  1864. 

In  the  treaty  stipulations  between  France  and  England  in  1714,  the 
commercial  rights  of  the  French  company  of  Quebec  were  secured  to 


24  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

them.  From  that  time  forward,  the  aggressive  and  oppressive  policy 
of  the  British  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  brought  into  collision,  not 
only  with  the  French  Northwest  Fur  Company,  but  with  the  United 
States  and  all  American  fur  companies  and  missionary  arid  commer 
cial  enterprises  coming  within  their  fur-trade  influence. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  who  claim 
their  existence  and  privileges  from  the  charter  of  Charles  II.,  as  early 
as  1070,  had,  in  forty-four  years'  time,  only  established  (as  Mr.  Fitz 
gerald  says)  "  four  or  five  insignificant  forts  on  the  shores  of  Hud 
son's  Bay  to  carry  on  a  trade  in  furs  with  those  Indians  who  resorted 
thither ;"  while  the  French,  for  many  years  previous,  had  carried  on  an 
active  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  had  explored  the  country  and 
extended  their  posts  up  to  the  shores  of  the  Saskatchewan,  and  over 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  on  to  the  waters  of  the  Columbia.  The  French 
carried  on  the  traffic  by  way  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  lakes  to 
Fort  William,  on  Lake  Superior,  and  through  the  Lake  of  the  Woods 
into  Lake  Winnipeg,  or  further  south  along  the  plains,  crossing  the 
course  of  the  Red  River ;  this  being  the  direct  and  only  line  of  posts 
kept  up  by  the  French  Northwest  Company,  by  which  their  food, 
goods,  and  furs  were  transported.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  carried 
theirs  by  way  of  Hudson's  Straits,  around  the  coast  of  Labrador.  In 
order  to  destroy  and  cut  off  as  much  as  possible  the  trade  ot  this 
Northwest  Company,  Lord  Selkirk,  in  1811-12,  became  a  shareholder, 
and  was  allowed  to  claim,  through  the  directors  of  the  company, 
sixteen  thousand  square  miles  of  territory  in  the  Red  River  country, 
for  the  professed  purpose  of  colonization. 

This  colony  was  planted  directly  in  the  line  of  the  fur  traffic  of  the 
Northwest  Company,  against  which  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had 
encouraged  and  carried  on  the  most  bitter  hostility,  enlisting  both 
men  and  Indians  in  a  deadly  feud  between  the  two  rival  companies. 

Our  English  writer  remarks  on  pa<re  57  :  ."To  those  who  had  read 

^  1       O 

the  mutual  recriminations  that  had  been  bandied  between  these  two 
bodies,  it  was  a  strange  sight  to  see  the  names  of  Messrs.  McGillivray 
and  Edward  Ellice  associated  with  that  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany, — to  see  men  going  hand-in-hand  who  had  openly  accused  one 
another  of  the  foulest  crimes,  of  wholesale  robbery,  of  allowing  their 
servants  to  instigate  the  Indian  tribes  to  MURDER  the  servants  of  their 
rivalu, — this  was  a  strange  sight.  And  to  see  gentlemen  who  had 
publicly  denied  the  validity  of  the  company's  charter,  who  had  taken 
the  opinion  of  the  leading  counsel  of  the  day  against  it,  who  had  tried 
every  means,  lawful  and  unlawful,  to  overthrow  it,  to  see  these  same 
men  range  themselves  under  its  protection,  and,  asserting  all  that  they 


THE   SELKIRK  COLONY.  25 

had  before  denied,  proclaim  its  validity  as  soon  as  they  were  admitted 
to  share  its  advantages ;  who,  without  its  pale,  asserted  the  rights  of 
British  subjects  against  its  monopoly,  and,  within  its  pale,  asserted  its 
monopoly  against  the  rights  of  British  subjects,— this,  too,  was  a  strange 
sight.  Yet  to  all  this  did  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  submit,  rather 
than  subject  their  charter  and  their  claims  to  the  investigation  of  a 
court  of  law." 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  from  the 
date  of  its  charter,  asserted  its  right  to  the  country,  and,  by  virtue  of 
the  privileges  conferred  in  that  charter,  seized  the  supplies  and  goods 
of  the  Northwest  French  Canadian  Company,  and  confiscated  them 
to  its  own  use.  This  resulted  in  a  deadly  war  between  the  two  com 
panies,  and  was  carried  on,  neither  party  applying  to  the  courts  of  the 
mother  country  for  a  settlement  of  their  difficulties;  in  fact,  as  has  been 
shown  by  reference  to  the  charter  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  they 
had  no  legal  rights,  because  none  were  in  existence  at  the  date  of  their 
charter ;  but,  from  the  maneuvering  of  the  company  and  the  plausible 
efforts  of  Lord  Selkirk  to  colonize,  civilize,  and  settle  the  Red  River 
country,  they  entered  into  his  schemes,  in  order  to  crush  the  rival 
company  and  secure  the  whole  country  to  themselves.  It  is  unneces 
sary  to  detail  any  accounts  of  the  horrid  murders  and  infamous  trans 
actions  that  were  put  on  foot  and  perpetrated  by  these  two  companies. 
After  a  furious  contention,  carried  on  for  several  years,  "  they  bribed 
rivals  whom  they  could  not  defeat,  and  the  two  companies  united  and 
agreed  to  carry  on  the  fur  trade  together,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others." 

The  Selkirk  settlement  was  soon  made  to  feel  the  withering  influence 
of  the  company  that  had  located  it  in  the  country  for  a  specific  pur 
pose.  Neither,  however,  was  there  any  compromise  till  its  inhabitants 
had  been  driven  from  their  homes,  its  Governor  (Sernple)  and  seven 
teen  of  his  followers  killed.  Then  a  compromise  was  effected  be 
tween  the  rival  companies,  and  they  were  united  by  an  act  of  Parlia 
ment,  under  the  title  of  Honorable  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  in  1821, — a 
license  given  to  Messrs.  William  and  Simon  McGillivray,  of  the  North 
west  Company,  and  Edward  Ellice,  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 
These  corporate  members  and  their  associates  "  were  to  share  the 
profits  arising  from  the  fur  trade,  not  only  from  the  Indian  territories, 
but  also  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  proper  territories  of  Ru 
pert's  Land."  The  privileges  of  this  company  were  limited  to  seven 
years.  This  carried  them  forward  to  1828,  in  which  year  their  license 
(called  a  charter)  was  renewed  for  ten  years. 

Our  Indian  missionary  and  American  history  commences  in  1832, 
six  years  before  this  combined  Northwest  and  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 


26  HISTORY  OF  OREGON, 

pany's  license  of  exclusive  privileges  to  trade  in  British  Indian  Ter 
ritory,  and,  jointly,  in  the  Oregon  Territory,  would  expire.  Our 
English  historian  and  Sir  Edward  Belcher  are  both  mistaken  when 
they  attribute  to  the  company  the  asking  for,  or  in  any  way  encourag 
ing,  the  American  missionaries  to  come  to  the  country.  This  was  an 
event  wholly  unknown  to  them,  and  brought  about  by  the  Indians 
themselves,  by  sending  a  delegation  of  four  of  their  number  to  St. 
Louis,  in  1832,  to  ask  of  the  American  people  a  religious  teacher.  Lee, 
Parker,  and  Whitman  heard  the  request,  and  volunteered  to  make  the 
effort  to  establish  missions  among  them. 

These  missionaries  all  came  across  the  Rocky  Mountains  unasked 
and  uninvited  by  any  one  in  the  service  of  that  company. 


CHAPTER    HI. 

English  Hudson's  Bay  effort  to  secure  Oregon. — British  claim  to  Oregon. — Dr. 
McLaughlin's  relation  to  the  company. — Treatment  of  Red  River  settlers. — A  mis 
take. — Sir  Edward  Belcher. — Duplicity  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. — A  noble 
man. — An  Englishman's  opinion  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. — Sir  James 
Douglas's  testimony. — J.  Ross  Browne. — Duty  of  an  historian. — Cause  and  effect. 

SINCE  commencing  this  work  we  have,  by  the  kindness  of  friends 
who  have  taken  a  deep  interest  in  all  that  relates  to  this  country,  been 
furnished  with  many  valuable  and  important  statements,  documents, 
pamphlets,  papers,  and  books,  all  relating  to  its  early  history. 

Of  the  whole  catalogue,  the  most  valuable  information  is  contained 
in  a  work  entitled  "  An  Examination  of  the  Charter  and  Proceedings 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  with  Reference  to  the  Grant  of  Van 
couver's  Island.  By  James  Edward  Fitzgerald.  London."  Pub 
lished  in  1849. 

The  author  of  this  book,  though  not  having  the  personal  knowledge 
of  the  company,  the  Indians,  and  the  country  about  which  he  writes 
requisite  to  a  complete  history,  has  shown  a  correctness  of  statistical 
facts,  a  comprehensive  knowledge  of  his  subject,  an  enlarged  view  of 
the  British  colonial  system,  and  a  correct  idea  of  the  debasing  practices 
and  utterly  false  positions  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  not  found 
in  any  other  writer. 

Up  to  the  time  that  this  book  of  293  pages  fell  into  my  hands,  I  did 
not  know  that  any  writer  entertained  similar  views  with  myself  in 
relation  to  this  monstrous  imposition  upon  the  British  and  American 
people. 

Mr.  Fitzgerald  has  fortified  his  statements  by  his  knowledge  of  the 
English  people,  their  laws  and  usages,  and  the  casual  outcroppings  of 
a  system  of  unparalleled  selfishness  and  despotism,  carried  on  under 
the  guise  of  a  Christian  commercial  company,  whose  professed  object 
was  to  extend  commerce,  and  civilize  and  christianize  the  savage  tribes 
of  North  America,  yet  who  have  invariably  held  up  their  Christian 
chartered  privileges  for  the  sole  purpose  of  carrying  on  the  most  de 
grading  and  inhuman  practices  with  not  only  the  savages,  but  with 
all  civilized  and  Christian  men  who  have  attempted  to  expose  or  even 
investigate  their  conduct. 

As  we  proceed  with  our  history,  we  feel  confident  that  we  shall  be 


28  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

able  to  enlighten  our  readers  on  many  dark  subjects  and  transactions, 
and  to  fully  prove  every  statement  we  have  made,  or  may  yet  make. 
Mr.  Fitzgerald  has  given  us  clearly  and  truthfully  the  English  side  of 
our  history  as  connected  with  this  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  The 
American  part  of  it  the  writer  is  gathering  up,  and,  in  giving  it  to  the 
public,  will  discard  every  statement  that  does  not  bear  the  impress  of 
truth. 

The  reader  will  notice  that  our  subject  is  extensive,  that  England 
and  America,  commerce  and  Christianity,  civilization  and  savagism, 
are  all  involved  and  interested  in  it,  and  that  Oregon,  California,  and 
British  and  Russian  America  have  all.  participated  in  it  during  the 
past  and  present  century ;  that  we  are  tracing  cause  and  effect  and 
bringing  to  light  influences  that,  wThile  producing  their  legitimate  re 
sults,  were  strange  and  unaccountable,  because  always  kept  under  the 
selfish  and  unscrupulous  policy  of  this  English  corporation  of  fur 
traders. 

By  referring  to  the  charter  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  we  find 
that  it  was  given  by  Charles  II.,  in  1670,  granting  to  the  "governor 
and  company  and  their  successors  the  exclusive  right  to  trade,  fish,  and 
hunt  in  the  waters,  bays,  rivers,  lakes,  and  creeks  entering  into  Hudson's 
Straits,  together  with  all  the  lands  and  territories  not  already  occupied 
or  granted  to  any  of  the  king's  subjects,  or  possessed  by  the  subjects 
of  any  other  Christian  prince  or  State." 

Forty  years  previous  to  the  giving  of  this  charter  by. Charles  II,  of 
England,  Louis  XIII.,  of  France,  gave  a  charter  to  a  French  company, 
who  occupied  the  country  called  Acadia,  or  New  France. 

In  1632,  Charles  I.,  of  England,  resigned  to  Louis  XIII.,  of  France, 
the  sovereignty  of  the  country  then  called  Acadia,  or  New  France. 

Forty  years  after  Louis  XIIL,  of  France,  had  given  his  charter,  and 
thirty-eight  years  after  Charles  I.,  of  England,  had  given  up  his  right 
to  the  country,  Charles  II.,  of  England,  imitating  the  example  of  him 
who  wished  to  give  the  world  and  all  its  glory  to  obtain  the  worship 
of  the  Saviour  of  mankind,  gave  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
what  he  had  not  the  shadow  of  a  title  to,  as  in  the  treaty  of  Rys- 
wick,  in  1697,  twenty-seven  years  after  this  charter  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  had  been  given,  the  whole  country  was  confirmed  to 
France,  and  no  reservation  made  on  account  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company. 

Mr.  Fitzgerald,  on  his  12th  page,  says  :  "  It  has  often  been  asserted, 
and  is  to  a  great  extent  believed,  because  there  is  very  little  general 
information  on  this  subject,  that  the  claim  which  Great  Britain  made 
to  the  Oregon  Territory  was  dependent  upon,  or,  at  any  rate,  strength- 


ENGLISH  POLICY  DEVELOPED.  29 

ened,  by  the  settlement  of  the  Hudson? s  Bay  Company  on  the  Columbia 
River. 

"  Those  who  hold  such  an  opinion  will  be  surprised  to  learn  that  there 
are  many,  and  they  well  acquainted  with  the  country  itself,  Avho  assert 
that  the  conduct  and  policy  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  the  Ore 
gon  Territory  formed  the  chief  part  of  the  title  which  the  United 
States  had  to  the  country,  which  was  gratuitously  given  to  her  by  the 
settlement  of  the  boundary.  What  the  United  States  owe  to  the  com 
pany  for  its  policy  on  the  west  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  is  a 
question  to  which  the  English  public  will  some  day  demand  a  satisfac 
tory  answer. 

"Dr.  McLaughlin  was  formerly  an  agent  in  the  Northwest  Fur 
Company  of  Montreal ;  he  was  one  of  the  most  enterprising  arid  active 
in  conducting  the  war  between  that  association  and  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  In  the  year  1821,  when  the  rival  companies  united,  Dr. 
McLaughlin  became  a  factor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  But  his 
allegiance  does  not  appear  to  have  been  disposed  of  along  with  his 
interests,  and  his  sympathy  with  any  thing  other  than  British,  seems 
to  have  done  justice  to  his  birth  and  education,  which  were  those  of  a 
French  Canadian.  This  gentleman  was  appointed  governor  of  all  the 
country  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  is  accused,  by  those  who 
have  been  in  that  country,  of  having  uniformly  encouraged  the  emigra 
tion  of  settlers  from  the  United  States,  and  of  having  discouraged  that 
of  British  subjects.  'While,  the  company  in  this  country  (England) 
were  asserting  that  their  settlements  on  the  Columbia  River  were  giving 
validity  to  the  claim  of  Great  Britain  to  the  Oregon  Territory,  it  ap 
pears  that  their  chief  officer  on  the  spot  was  doing  all  in  his  power  to 
facilitate  the  operations  of  those  whose  whole  object  it  was  to  anni 
hilate  that  claim  altogether." 

Mr.  Fitzgerald  has  given  us  in  the  above  statement  an  important 
fact,  and  one  that  reveals  to  an  American  the  deep-laid  schemes  of  the 
English  government,  which,  by  the  influence  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany,  sought  to  secure  the  Oregon  Territory  to  itself.  He  also  explains 
the  conduct  of  Dr.  McLaughlin  in  his  treatment  of  emigrants,  as  well 
as  the  relation  he  sustained  to  that  company.  While,  as  Americans, 
we  can  admire  and  applaud  the  conduct  of  a  noble  and  generous  "  Can 
adian-born  "  citizen,  we  at  the  same  time  can  see  the  low,  debasing,  and 
mean  spirit  of  the  Englishman,  as  manifested  in  the  attempt  to  deprive 
the  American  Republic  of  its  rightful  domain. 

We  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  to  the  bringing  into  Oregon  of  the 
Red  River  settlers,  and  as  the  result  of  that  move,  the  unparalleled 
effort  of  Dr.  Whitman  to  defeat  the  British  designs  upon  the  country. 


30  HISTORY  OF  OREGOX. 

Mr.  Fitzgerald  explains  that  matter  so  well,  that  we  could  not  do 
justice  to  the  truth  of  history  not  to  quote  him.  He  says,  on  the  14th 
page  of  his  work :  "  There  is  one  story  told,  about  which  it  is  right  that 
the  truth  should  be  ascertained.  It  is  said  that  a  number  of  half-breeds 
from  the  Red  River  settlement  were,  in  the  year  of  1841-2,  induced  by 
the  company's  officers  to  undertake  a  journey  entirely  across  the  con 
tinent,  with  the  object  of  becoming  settlers  on  the  Columbia  River. 
It  appears  that  a  number  went,  but  on  arriving  in  the  country,  so  far 
from  finding  any  of  the  promised  encouragement,  the  treatment  they 
received  from  Dr.  McLaughlin  was  such,  that,  after  having  been  nearly 
starved  under  the  paternal  care  of  that  gentleman,  they  all  went  over 
to  the  American  settlement  in  the  Wallamet  Valley." 

This  statement,  while  it  affirms  an  important  fact,  gives  a  false  im 
pression  as  regards  Dr.  McLaughlin.  He,  to  our  certain  knowledge, 
extended  to  the  Red  River  settlers  every  facility  within  his  power,  and 
all  of  those  emigrants  to  this  day  speak  of  his  kindness  in  the  highest 
terms.  But  not  so  of  other  leading  or  controlling  members,  who  really 
represented  the  English  part  and  policy  of  that  company.  Those  set 
tlers  complained  of  the  domineering  and  tyrannical  treatment  of  their 
English  overseers,  which  was  the  cause  of  their  leaving  what  they  sup 
posed  would  eventually  be  the  English  part  of  Oregon  Territory. 
They  also  became  sensible  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  Oregon 
was  a  different  concern  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  Rupert's 
Land ;  that,  however  small  their  privileges  were  there,  they  were  less 
on  Puget  Sound  ;  and  being  near  an  American  settlement,  they  natu 
rally  sought  its  advantages  and  protection. 

Mr.  Fitzgerald  informs  us  that  "  these  emigrants  became  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  and  it  is  further  said  were  the  first  to  memorialize 
Congress  to  extend  the  power  of  the  United  States  over  the  Oregon 
Territory.  For  the  truth  of  these  statements  we  do  not,  of  course,  vouch, 
but  we  do  say  they  demand  inquiry." 

This  statement  of  Mr.  Fitzgerald  entitles  him  to  be  considered  a  can 
did  and  fair  writer,  and  one  who  is  seeking  for  truth  in  reference  to  the 
subject  he  is  investigating.  He  has  naturally  imbibed  the  feelings  of 
an  Englishman  against  Dr.  McLaughlin,  under  the  strong  effort  made 
by  the  English  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  suppress  and  supersede  the 
French  Canadian  influence  in  it. 

He  says,  on  page  15:  "Dr.  McLaughlin's  policy  was  so  manifestly 
American  that  it  is  openly  canvassed  in  a  book  written  by  Mr.  Dunn, 
one  of  the  servants  of  the  company,  and  written  for  the  purpose  of 
praising  their  system  and  policy." 

Sir  Edward  Belcher  also  alludes  to  this  policy.     He  says :  "  Some  few 


SIR   EDWARD   BELCHER'S   COMPLAINT.  31 

years  since,  the  company  determined  on  forming  settlements  on  the  rich 
lands  situated  on  the  Wallamet  and  other  rivers,  and  for  providing  for 
their  retired  servants,  by  allotting  them  farms,  and  further  aiding  them 
by  supplies  of  cattle,  etc.  That  on  the  Wallamet  was  a  field  too  in 
viting  for  missionary  enthusiasm  to  overlook,  but  instead  of  selecting  a 
British  subject  to  afford  them  spiritual  assistance,  recourse  was  had  to 
Americans,  a  course  pregnant  with  evil  consequences,  and  particularly 
in  the  political  squabble  pending,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  result.  No 
sooner  had  the  American  and  his  allies  fairly  squatted  (which  they 
deem  taking  possession  of  the  country),  than  they  invited  their  brethren 
to  join  them,  and  called  on  the  American  government  for  laws  and 
protection." 

The  American  reader  will  smile  at  Sir  Edward's  little  fling  at  the 
squatters  in  Oregon.  He  asserts  a  great  truth  in  the  same  sentence 
that  he  utters  a  positive  falsehood.  No  member  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  nor  the  whole  company  together,  ever  encouraged  a  single 
American  missionary  to  come  to  the  country.  Revs.  Lee  and  Parker 
and  Dr.  Whitman  came  without  their  invitation  or  aid.  They  were 
entirely  independent  of  the  company,  and  were  only  suffered  to  re 
main,  the  company  not  daring  to  drive  them  from  the  country  on  their 
first  arrival,  as  they  all  held  the  protection  of  the  American  govern 
ment,  as  Indian  teachers,  under  the  great  seal  of  the  Secretary  of  War. 
This  English  fling  at  their  own  company  is  evidence  of  a  jealousy 
existing  which  could  not  be  satisfied  short  of  the  utter  extermination 
of  all  American  influence  on  this  coast,  and  is  further  illustrated  by 
this  same  Sir  Edward  Belcher,  in  contrasting  the  treatment  of  Cap 
tain  Wilkes  and  his  party  with  that  of  his  own.  He  says  (vol.  1,  p.  297) : 
"The  attention  of  the  chief  to  myself  and  those  immediately  about 
me,  particularly  in  sending  down  fresh  supplies,  previous  to  my  arrival, 
I  feel  fully  grateful  for ;  but  I  can  not  conceal  my  disappointment  at 
the  want  of  accommodation  exhibited  toward  the  crews  of  the  ves 
sels  under  my  command  in  a  British  jiossession"  We  old  Oregonians 
are  amused  at  Sir  Edward's  ignorance  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's 
treatment  of  the  crews  of  vessels,  and  servants  of  the  company.  We 
all  know  his  crew  were  allowed  to  associate  freely  with  the  native 
women  in  the  country  and  to  distribute  their  rations  of  rum,  and  any 
other  supplies  they  might  have,  without  any  remonstrance  from  the 
company.  Sir  Edward  continues :  "  We  certainly  were  not  distressed, 
nor  was  it  imperatively  necessary  that  fresh  beef  and  vegetables  should 
be  supplied,  or  I  should  have  made  a  formal  demand.  But  as  regarded 
those  who  might  come  after,  and  not  improbably  myself  among  the 
number,  I  inquired  in  direct  terms  what  facilities  her  Majesty's  ship 


32  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

of  war  might  expect,  in  the  event  of  touching  at  this  port  for  bullocks, 
flour,  vegetables,  etc.  I  certainly  was  extremely  surprised  at  the 
reply  that  they  were  not  in  a  condition  to  supply.  As  any  observation 
here  would  be  useless,  and  I  well  knew  this  point  could  be  readily 
settled  where  authority  could  be  referred  to,  I  let  the  matter  rest.  But 
having  been  invited  to  inspect  the  farm  and  dairy,  and  been  informed 
of  the  quantity  of  grain,  and  the  means  of  furnishing  flour,  and  not 
withstanding  the  profusion  of  cattle  and  potatoes,  no  offer  having  been 
made  for  our  crew,  I  regretted  that  I  had  been  led  into  the  acceptance 
of  private,  supplies ;  although,  at  that  time,  the  other  officers  of  the 
establishment  had  told  my  officers  that  supplies  would  of  course  be 
sent  down." 

Mr.  Fitzgerald  says  "  the  American  policy  of  the  Hudsorts  Bay 
Company  would  seem,  from  the  above  facts,  to  be  more  than  a  matter 
of  suspicion,"  while  we  Americans  are  only  disposed  to  regard  them 
as  a  part  of  the  duplicity  of  that  company  in  their  effort  to  deceive 
their  own  countrymen  as  to  the  value  of  the  country  over  which  they 
had  ruled  so  long. 

They  had  been  too  successful  in  deceiving  all  American  writers  to 
allow  their  own  countrymen  to  understand  their  secret  policy.  Sir 
Edward  Belcher  and  our  English  historian  were  equally  misled  in 
relation  to  the  American  policy  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  It 
is  true  that  Dr.  McLaughlin,  though  he  was  a  French  Canadian  sub 
ject,  had  not  lost  his  American  soul.  The  British  iron  had  not  driven 
the  last  noble  sentiment  of  humanity  from  his  heart,  nor  his  connection 
with  that  polluted  corporation  of  iniquity  which  pervades  half  the  con 
tinent  of  North  America ;  for  when  he  found  that  this  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  was  utterly  lost  to  humanity,  he  tells  them  to  their  teeth : 
"  Gentlemen,  I  will  serve  you  no  longer" 

No  true  American  historian  will  allow,  without  contradiction,  that 
corrupt  company  to  hand  down  to  future  infamy  the  name  of  a  noble 
and  generous  servant,  because  their  infamous  policy  was  defeated  by 
the  establishment  of  the  American  missions  in  the  country.  Dr. 
McLaughlin  did  all  that  he  could,  honorably,  to  comply  with  their 
"  system  of  iniquity." 

Our  English  author  says,  on  page  19,  in  reference  to  the  conduct 
of  the  company  :  "  They  are  convictions  which  have  strengthened  and 
deepened  at  every  step  of  the  inquiry  ;  convictions  that  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  has  entailed  misery  and  destruction  upon  thousands 
throughout  the  country  which  is  withering  under  its  curse ;  that  it 
has  cramped  and  crippled  the  energies  and  enterprise  of  England, 
which  might  have  found  occupation  in  the  directions  from  which  they 


AN  ENGLISHMAN'S   OPINION   OF   THE   H.  B.  C.  33 

are  now  excluded ;  that  it  has  stopped  the  extension  of  civilization, 
and  has  excluded  the  light  of  religious  truth  •  that  it  has  alienated  the 
hearts  of  all  under  its  oppression,  and  made  them,  hostile  to  their  coun 
try  ;  above  all,  that  the  whole  and  entire  fabric  is  built  upon  utterly 
false  and  fictitious  grounds ;  that  it  has  not  one  shadow  of  reality  in 
law  or  in  justice ;  that  there  is  not  the  smallest  legal  authority  for  any 
one  of  the  rights  which  this  corporation  claims.  It  is  this  conviction 
which  has  urged  me  to  submit  the  statements  and  arguments  cor- 
tained  in  the  following  pages  to  the  consideration  of  the  public  ;  and  to 
arraign  before  that  tribunal,  from  which  in  these  days  there  is  no  es 
cape, — the  judgment  of  public  opinion, — a  corporation  who,  under  the 
authority  of  a  charter  which  is  invalid  in  law,  hold  a  monopoly  in 
commerce,  and  exercise  a  despotism  in  government,  and  have  so  used 
that  monopoly  and  wielded  that  power  as  to  shut  up  the  earth  from  the 
knowledge  of  man,  and  man  from  the  knowledge  of  God" 

With  the  statements  and  convictions  of  this  English  author  before 
us,  we  will  add  a  statement  of  Sir  James  Douglas,  given  in  answer  to 
interrogatory  11  in  the  case  of  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  Claim  v. 
United  States,  to  give  the  reader  a  better  idea  of  the  power  and 
influence  of  that  company  in  Oregon,  in  1846. 

Sir  James  says :  "  The  Honorable  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  fifty-five 
officers  and  five  hundred  and  thirteen  articled  men.  The  company  hav 
ing  a  large,  active,  and  experienced  force  of  servants  in  their  employ, 
and  holding  establishments  judiciously  situated  in  the  most  favorable 
portions  for  trade,  forming,  as  it  were,  a  net-work  of  posts  aiding  and 
supporting  each  other,  possessed  an  extraordinary  influence  with  the 
natives,  and  in  1846  practically  enjoyed  a  monopoly  of  the  fur  trade 
in  the  country  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  north  and  south  of  the 
forty-ninth  parallel  of  latitude.  The  profits  of  their  trade,"  says  this 
witness,  "  from  1841  to  1846  were  at  least  seven  thousand  pounds  sterling 
annually." 

The  fifty-five  officers  and  five  hundred  and  thirteen  articled  men  of 
the  company,  with  their  'eight  hundred  half-breeds,  and  the  Indians 
they  could  command  by  the  judicious  position  of  their  respective 
posts,  were  deemed  by  them  sufficient  security  for  their  trade,  and  a 
substantial  reason  why  they  should  not  give  up  the  country  without 
making  another  direct  effort  to  drive  the  missionary  and  American  set 
tlements  from  it,  notwithstanding  all  their  pretension  to  join  in  the 
provisional  government  organized  by  the  pioneer  Americans  in  1843. 

The  reader  is  referred  to  the  discussion  on  the  liquor  question 
between  Judge  Sir  James  Douglas  and  Mr.  Samuel  Parker,  as  found  in 
the  tenth  and  eleventh  numbers,  first  volume,  of  the  Spectator,  pub- 
3 


34  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

lished  .June  11  and  25,  1845,  and  in  another  chapter  of  this  work,  and 
requested  to  keep  all  these  facts  before  the  mind,  so  as  not  to  lose 
sight  of  the  commanding  influence,  or,  in  other  words,  the  commander, 
when  we  enter  upon  the  preliminary  and  immediate  causes  of  the 
Whitman  massacre,  and  the  Indian  war  that  followed. 

We  have  before  us  the  original  depositions  in  reference  to  the  facts 
stated,  and  also  the  attempt  to  excuse  the  principal  actors  in  that  hor 
rible  transaction,  as  given  by  Brouillet  in  justification  of  the  course 
pursued  by  the  Jesuit  missionaries. 

We  have  also  the  superficial  and  bombastic  report  of  T.  Ross  Browne, 
special  agent  of  the  Treasury  Department,  dated  December  4,  1857, 
containing  a  copy  of  this  Jesuit  history  of  the  murder  of  Dr.  Whit 
man.  In  his  remarks  previous  to  giving  Brouillet's  history,  he  says  : 
"In  view  of  the  fact,  however,  that  objections  might  be  made  to  any 
testimony  coming  from  the  citizens  of  the  Territories,  and  believing 
also  that  it  is  the  duty  of  a  public  agent  to  present,  as  far  as  practica 
ble,  unprejudiced  statements,  I  did  not  permit  myself  to  be  governed 
by  any  representations  unsupported  by  reliable  historical  data."  *  * 
*  *  "The  fact  also  is  shown  that,  as  far  back  as  1835,  the  Indians 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  protested  against  the  taking  away  of 
their  lands  by  the  white  race.  That  this  was  one  of  the  alleged  causes 
of  the  murder  of  Dr.  Whitman  and  family." 

There  are  sixty-six  pages  in  this  report.  Twelve  of  them  are  Mr. 
Browne's,  one  page  of  official  acknowledgment,  and  fifty- three  from 
the  parties  implicated. 

The  statements  of  Mr.  Browne,  of  Mr.  Fitzgerald,  and  the  oath  of  Mr. 
Douglas,  are  sufficient  to  show  the  ignorance,  stupidity,  and  falsehood 
incorporated  in  his  report,  were  there  no  other  historical  facts  to  con 
vict  him  of  ignorance  in  allowing  such  representations  to  be  made  in 
an  official  document.  In  the  proper  place  we  will  bring  this  report 
into  our  history,  with  both  sides  of  the  question. 

Were  we  to  express  an  opinion  of  Mr.  J.  Ross  Browne's  report,  with 
our  personal  knowledge  of  what  he  pretends  to  relate,  we  would  say 
he  ignored  the  people,  the  country,  and  the  government  whose  agent 
he  claimed  to  be,  and  was  reporting  for  the  special  benefit  of  the 
Roman  religion  and  British  government,  as  these  are  extensively 
quoted  as  historical  data  from  which  his  report  and  conclusions  are 
drawn. 

The  reader  will  understand  our  main  object  to  be  to  give  a  full  his 
tory  of  all  influences  and  prominent  transactions  and  events  that  have 
occurred  in  Oregon  from  1792  to  1849. 

To  understand  cause  and  effect,  and  the  true  history  of  the  country, 


CORROBORATIVE   TESTIMONY.  35 

we  have  to  examine  the  facts  as  connected  with  actions,  and  also  to 
trace  back  the  history  of  the  actors,  in  order  to  see  how  far  they  may 
be  made  responsible  for  the  result  of  their  actions. 

Oregon,  from  the  time  of  its  discovery,  has  been  a  field  where  all 
the  influences  of  which  we  are  writing  have  been  living,  active  influ 
ences  ;  and  they  are  by  no  means  inactive  or  dead  at  the  present  time. 
Some  of  them  are  more  active  now  than  they  were  in  1836. 

A  full  knowledge  of  the  past  will  enable  us  to  guard  the  present  and 
the  future.  Our  English  writer  has  gathered  his  facts  and  drawn  his 
conclusions  m  in  London.  We,  upon  this,  our  western  coast,  are  wit 
nesses  of  the  cause  and  results  of  his  conclusions,  and  any  statement  he 
makes  we  feel  ourselves  abundantly  able  to  corroborate  or  correct. 

As  we  proceed  with  our  history  we  shall  have  frequent  occasion  to 
quote  Mr.  Fitzgerald,  as  the  best  English  evidence,  in  favor  of  our 
American  statements  or  positions.  Since  wrriting  the  above  we  have 
noticed  a  lengthy  article  in  the  Edinburgh  Westminster  Review  for 
July,  1867,  giving  a  concise  history  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
under  the  heading,  "The  Last  Great  Monopoly."  In  that  article  the 
author  has  shown  extensive  .historical  knowledge  of  the  operations  and 
influences  of  that  monopoly  in  that  portion  of  our  continent  over 
which  they  have  held  exclusive  control. 

He  regards  them  as  a  blight  upon  the  country,  and  an  "  incubus  " 
to  be  removed  by  national  legislation.  If  our  work  had  been  pub 
lished,  we  should  conclude  that  he  must  have  drawn  many  of  his  facts 
from  our  own  observations.  But  this  is  not  the  case ;  hence  the  value 
to  us  of  his  corroboration  of  the  facts  we  affirm  from  personal  knowl 
edge. 


CHAPTER   IY. 

Care  of  Great  Britain  for  her  fur  companies. — Columbia  Fur  Company. — Astor's  second 
fur  company. — Major  Pilcher's  fur  company. — Loss  of  the  ship  Isabel. — Captain 
Bonueville's  expedition. — Cause  of  his  failure. — Captain  Wyeth's,  1832. — Indians 
ask  for  missionaries  in  1833. — Methodist  Mission. — Fort  Hall  established. — Fort 
Boise. 

BY  reference  to  the  act  of  the  British  Parliament  of  June  2,  1821, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  affairs  of  the  North  American  British  Fur  com 
panies  were  in  a  fair  way  to  defeat  all  British  interests  in  America.  To 
suppress  these  feuds  among  their  own  people  became  a  matter  of 
national  importance  and  policy. 

To  accomplish  so  desirable  an  object,  Parliament,  in  the  act  above 
referred  to,  extended  the  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  of  Canada  over 
all  the  territories  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company ;  in  the  thirteenth 
article  of  the  act,  and  in  the  fourteenth,  repealed  all  that  was  before 
taken  away  from  that  company,  and  confirmed  absolutely  all  the  rights 
supposed  to  have  been  given  by  the  original  charter,  as  follows : — 

SECTION  14.  "  And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  nothing  in  this  act  con 
tained  shall  be  taken  or  construed  to  affect  any  right  or  privilege, 
authority  or  jurisdiction,  which  the  governor  and  company  of  adven- 
ture'rs  trading  to  Hudson's  Bay  are  by  law  entitled  to  claim  and  exer 
cise  under  their  charter;  but  that  all  such  rights,  privileges,  authorities, 
and  jurisdictions,  shall  remain  in  as  full  force,  virtue,  and  effect,  as  if 
this  act  had  never  been  made ;  any  thing  in  this  act  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding:." 

O 

This  act,  however  just  it  may  have  been  considered,  certainly  em 
bodied  a  large  amount  of  national  prejudice  against  the  people  of 
French  or  Canadian  birth,  in  exempting  the  territory  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  from  its  influence.,  It  had  a  twofold  effect :  the  one,  to 
check  feuds  among  British  subjects ;  the  other,  to  unite  them  in  one  vast 
Indian  monopoly, — to  license  this  united  company  to  go  forward  with 
their  Indian  political  arrangements  unmolested, — to  punish  and  dispose 
of  all  intruders  upon  their  supposed,  or  asserted  rights,  as  they  might 
deem  for  the  interest  of  their  trade,  which,  according  to  the  charter 
of  Charles  II.,  bearing  date  May  2,  1670,  they  were  "  at  all  times  here 
after  to  be  personable  and  capable  in  law,  to  have,  purchase,  receive, 
possess,  enjoy,  and  retain  lands,  rents,  privileges,  liberties,  jurisdiction, 


THE  BRITISH- AMERICAN   QUESTION.  37 

franchises,  and  hereditaments  of  what  kind,  nature,  or  quality  soever 
they  be,  to  them  and  their  successors." 

The  whole  trade,  fisheries,  navigation,  minerals,  etc.,  of  the  countries, 
are  granted  to  the  company  exclusively ;  all  other  of  the  king's  subjects 
being  forbidden  to  visit,  hunt,  frequent,  trade,  traffic,  or  adventure 
therein,  under  heavy  penalties ;  and  the  company  is  moreover  empow 
ered  to  send  ships,  and  to  build  fortifications  for  the  defense  of  its 
possessions,  as  well  as  to  make  war  or  peace  with  all  nations  or  peoples 
not  Christian,  inhabiting  those  territories,  which  are  declared  to  be  hence 
forth  reckoned  and  reputed  as  one  of  his  Majesty's  plantations  or  colo 
nies  in  America,  called  Rupert's  Land. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  as  early  as  1818,  a  question  arose  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  as  to  which  was  the  rightful  owner 
of  the  Oregon  country.  The  Northwest  Fur  Company  were  the  only 
subjects  of  Great  Britain  that  had  competed  with  the  American  fur 
companies  in  the  discovery  or  trade  of  the  country.  To  ignore  that 
company  altogether  would  weaken  the  British  claim  to  Oregon  by  right 
of  prior  discovery  and  occupancy.  Hence,  by  uniting  the  two  companies 
under  an  ancient  English  charter,  combining  their  united  capital  and 
numerical  strength,  discarding  all  doubtful  subjects,  and  confirming  the 
absolute  power  of  their  own  British  company,  they  could  easily  secure 
Oregon  as  British  territory.  The  wisdom  and  effect  of  this  policy  will 
be  developed  as  we  proceed. 

By  the  third  article  of  the  convention  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain,  signed  October  20,  1818,  "it  is  agreed  that  any  country 
that  may  be  claimed  by  either  party  on  the  northwest  coast  of  America, 
westward  of  the  Stony  Mountains,  shall,  together  with  its  harbors,  bays, 
and  creeks,  and  the  navigation  of  all  rivers  within  the  same,  be  free 
and  open  for  the  term  often  years  from  the  date  of  the  signature  of  the 
present  convention,  to  the  vessels,  citizens,  and  subjects  of  the  two 
powers ;  it  being  well  understood  that  this  agreement  is  not  to  be  con 
strued  to  the  prejudice  of  any  claim  which  either  of  the  two  high  con 
tracting  parties  may  have  to  any  part  of  said  country,  nor  shall  it  be 
taken  to  affect  the  claims  of  any  other  power  or  state  to  any  part  of  the 
said  country;  the  only  object  of  the  high  contracting  parties,  in  that 
respect,  being  to  prevent  disputes  and  differences  among  themselves." 

This  convention  secured  at  that  time  the  Northwest  Fur  Company's 
existence  in  the  country,  by  the  act  uniting  the  two  British  fur  compa 
nies  three  years  later.  In  1821,  the  privileges  here  secured  were  trans 
ferred  and  confirmed  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  who  at  once  took  the 
most  active  and  efficient  measures  to  guard  against  any  future  competi 
tion,  by  assessing  and  setting  apart  ten  per  cent,  on  their  capital  stock, 


38  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

which  was  counted  at  £200,000,  as  a  sinking  fund  for  the  special  pur 
pose  of  opposing  all  competition  in  the  fur  trade  by  land  or  water. 

The  convention  above  referred  to  shows  that  Great  Britain  held  a 
watchful  eye  over  her  fur  traders  in  this  distant  country ;  and  the  act  of 
her  Parliament  in  1821,  that  she  was  disposed,  in  a  direct  manner,  to 
secure  to  her  own  people,  as  traders,  the  absolute  sovereignty  of  the 
country.  While  Great  Britain  was  protecting  and  strengthening  her 
fur  traders  in  North  America,  the  American  government  was  simply 
asserting  its  prior  rights  to  the  Oregon  country,  founded  upon  its 
discovery  and  subsequent  purchase  in  what  is  termed  the  Louisiana 
purchase,  from  France ;  the  treaties  and  conventions  only  serving  to 
encourage  arid  strengthen  the  British  claim,  while  they  used  their 
influence,  capital,  and  power  against  all  American  competition  and  set 
tlement  in  the  country. 

In  1821,  as  was  to  be  expected  by  the  union  of  the  two  great  British 
fur  companies,  under  the  license  of  the  British  Parliament,  and  absolute 
charter  of  Charles  II.,  many  of  the  servants,  and  especially  such  as 
were  found  favorable  to  the  American  fur  traders,  or  violently  opposed 
to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  were  thrown  out  of  employment.  They 
naturally  sought  to  continue  their  wild  Indian  trade  and  habits,  and 
formed  a  company  under  the  name  of  the  Columbia  Fur  Company,  ex 
tending  their  operations  up  the  Mississippi,  Missouri,  and  Yellowstone 
rivers.  In  1826,  they  transferred  their  interests  to  Astor's  second  North 
American  Fur  Company,  of  which  John  Jacob  Astor  was  the  head. 
This  company  appears  to  have  been  commenced  or  organized  in  con 
nection  with  Mr.  W.  H.  Ashley,  in  1823,  and  under  his  direction  extended 
its  trade  to  the  south  and  west,  along  the  Platte  River,  and  passed  into 
the  Rocky  Mountains  as  far  as  Green  River,  being  the  first  to  discover 
its  sources,  making  a  successful  trading  expedition  that  year. 

In  1824,  another  expedition  under  Mr.  Ashley  explored  the  Rocky 
Mountains  as  far  south  as  Salt  Lake,  and  built  a  fort  on  the  borders  of 
a  small  lake,  to  which  he  gave  his  own  name.  In  1826,  Mr.  Ashley  trans 
ported  a  6-pound  cannon  to  his  establishment  near  Salt  Lake,  through 
what  has  since  been  termed  Fremont's,  or  the  south  pass  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  in  a  wagon.  This  establishment  had  in  its  employ  over 
one  hundred  men,  and  was  remarkably  successful  and  profitable  to  the 
partners. 

In  1826,  Mr.  Ashley  sold  all  his  interest  to  the  Rocky  Mountain  Fur 
Company,  composed  of  Smith,  Jackson,  and  Subleth,  who  extended 
their  trade  into  California,  and  as  far  north  as  the  Umpqua  River,  in 
Oregon  ;  where  Smith  and  his  party  were  met  by  a  professedly  friendly 
party  of  Indians,  who  murdered  his  men,  seized  his  furs,  and  delivered 


SEVERAL  FUR  COMPANIES.  39 

them  to  a  party  of  men  sent  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  under  Mr. 
John  McLeod  and  Thomas  McKay,  to  receive  the  furs  and  pay  the  In 
dians  for  their  services — as  learned  by  the  writer  from  eye-witnesses. 

During  this  same  year,  1 827,  Major  Pilcher,  with  forty-five  men,  crossed 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  and,  in  1828-9,  traversed  the  western  portion  of 
them  as  far  north  as  Fort  Colville.  This  fort  had  been  established,  and 
farming  operations  commenced,  in  1825.  This  party  of  Major  Pilcher 
were  all  cut  off  but  two  men,  besides  himself;  his  furs,  as  stated  by 
himself  to  the  writer,  found  their  way  into  the  forts  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company. 

In  1828,  the  brig  Oicyhee,  Captain  Demenses,  and  the  schooner  Oow- 
rey,  Captain  Thompson,  entered  and  remained  nearly  a  year  in  the  Co 
lumbia  River,  trading  with  the  Indians.  They  were  owned  in  Boston. 

In  1830,  the  British  ship  Isabel  was  lost  on  Sand  Island — the  second 
known  to  have  been  wrrecked  on  the  bar,  or  in  attempting  to  enter  the 
river.  The  crew  were  all  saved,  and  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  company 
at  Vancouver  that,  had  the  crew  remained  with  the  ship,  no  great  loss 
would  have  been  sustained. 

In  1832,  Captain  Bonneville,  of  the  United  States  army,  on  furlough, 
started,  with  over  one  hundred  men,  on  an  expedition  into  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  He  crossed  the  mountains,  and  reached  the  Wallawalla  Val 
ley,  on  the  Columbia  River;  but,  through  the  influence  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  his  men  were  nearly  all  induced  to  leave  him,  so  that 
he  was  obliged  to  abandon  his  property,  and  his  expedition  was  a  total 
failure,  except  the  little  scientific  knowledge  of  the  country  gained  by  it. 

To  charge  the  failure  of  Captain  Bonneville  directly  to  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  would  not  be  strictly  true  ;  but  their  great  influence  over 
the  Indians  was  sufficient  to  prevent  them  from  furnishing  his  party 
with  food  or  horses,  while  he  was  within  reach  of  their  forts.  Hence, 
many  of  his  men  became  dissatisfied,  and  left  him,  till  his  party  became 
too  weak  to  effect  their  return  to  the  States  with  their  valuable  furs 
and  property.  These  eventually  were  lost,  or  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Indians,  and  through  them,  his  furs  reached  the  Hudson's  Bay  traders' 
establishments. 

This  same  year,  1832,  Captain  Nathaniel  Wyeth,  of  Massachusetts, 
started  on  an  exploring  expedition  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River, 
with  a  view  of  establishing  a  permanent  trade  in  the  Oregon  country. 
He  traveled  across  the  continent  and  gathered  all  the  information  re 
quisite  for  the  undertaking,  and  returned  to  Boston  in  1833 ;  and  in 
1834,  having  completed  his  arrangements,  chartered  the  brig  May 
Dacre,  and  dispatched  her  with  his  own,  and  the  goods  of  the  Metho 
dist  Mission,  for  the  Columbia  River. 


40  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

The  same  year,  some  Flat-head  Indians,  from  a  tribe  in  the  midst  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  went  to  St.  Louis,  and,  through  Mr.  Catlin,  an 
American  artist,  made  known  their  object,  which  was  to  know  some 
thing  more  of  the  white  man's  God  and  religion.  Through  the  represent 
ations  of  these  Indians,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Society  in  the  United 
States  established  their  missions  in  Oregon,  and  the  American  Board 
sent  their  missionaries  among  the  Nez  Perces,  which,  as  will  be  seen, 
was  the  commencement  of  the  permanent  settlement  of  the  country. 
It  appears  from  the  facts,  briefly  stated,  that  there  had  been  eleven  dif 
ferent  trading  expeditions  and  companies,  besides  the  Northwest  and 
Hudson's  Bay  companies,  that  had  sought  for  wealth  by  making  fur- 
trading  establishments  in  Oregon.  All  of  them,  including  the  North 
west  and  Hudson's  Bay  companies,  have  retired  from  it,  but  the  Ameri 
can  missionaries  are  residents  of  the  country,  and  their  influence  and 
labors  are  felt,  notwithstanding  other  influences  have  partially  sup 
planted  and  destroyed  the  good  impressions  first  made  upon  the  natives 
1  of  the  country  by  them.  Still  civilization,  education,  and  religion,  with 
all  the  improvements  of  the  age,  are  progressing,  and  the  old  pioneer 
missionaries  and  settlers  that  were  contemporary  with  them,  with  a 
few  exceptions,  are  foremost  in  every  laudable  effort  to  benefit  the 
present  arid  rising  generation. 

In  the  month  of  March,  1833,  a  Japanese  junk  was  wrecked  near 
Cape  Flattery,  in  the  then  Territory  of  Oregon,  and  all  on  board,  ex 
cept  three  men,  were  lost.  Those  three  were  received  by  Captain 
McNeal  on  board  the  British  ship  Lama  ;  taken  to  Vancouver,  and 
thence  sent  to  England.  Rev.  Mr.  Parker  gives  this,  and  another  simi 
lar  wreck  on  the  Sandwich  .Islands,  as  evidence  of  the  origin  of  the 
natives  of  those  countries.  But  we  give  it  for  another  object.  The 
three  Japanese  were  taken  to  England,  and,  during  their  stay,  learned 
the  English  language,  were  sent  back  to  Macao,  and  became  the  assist 
ant  teachers  of  Mr.' Gutzlaff,  the  English  missionary,  at  that  place,  and 
were  the  means  of  opening  their  own  country  to  missionary  and  com 
mercial  relations  with  other  nations. 

Captain  Wyeth,  with  Revs.  Jason  and  Daniel  Lee,  Cyrus  Shepard, 
and  P.  L.  Edwards,  the  first  missionary  party,  together  with  Doctor 
Nutall,  a  naturalist,  and  J.  K.  To\vnsend,  an  ornithologist,  sent  out  by 
a  literary  society  in  Philadelphia,  all  under  the  escort  furnished  by 
Captain  Wyeth,  crossed  the  mountains  and  reached  the  plain  formed 
by  the  Portneuf  and  Snake  rivers.  At  their  junction  Captain  Wyeth 
stopped,  and  established  Fort  Hall,  while  the  missionaries  and  scientific 
men  of  his  party,  in  company  with  an  Englishman  by  the  name  of 
Captain  Stewart,  and  a  party  of  Hudson's  Bay  traders,  under  the 


CAPTAIN  WYETH'S  TRADING-POST.  41 

direction  of  Mr.  McLeod  and  McKay,  proceeded  to  Fort  Nez  Perces 
(present  name,  Wallula).  Thence  they  traveled  in  Hudson's  Bay 
bateaux  to  Vancouver. 

Captain  Wyeth  established  his  post  on  the  Snake  River,  by  erecting 
a  stockade  of  logs,  and  quarters  for  his  men,  and  then  proceeded  to 
the  lower  Columbia  to  receive  his  goods,  which  arrived  in  the  May 
Dacre,  Captain  Lambert,  from  Boston,  about  the  time  he  reached  Fort 
William,  on  what  is  now  known  as  Sauvies  Island,  a  few  miles  below 
the  mouth  of  the  Multnomah  River,  now  called  the  Wallamet. 

Rev.  Mr.  Lee  and  party  made  their  first  location  about  sixty  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Wallamet,  near  what  is  now  called  Wheatland, 
ten  miles  below  Salem. 

Captain  Wyeth  received  his  goods,  and  commenced  his  trading 
establishment,  but  found  that,  notwithstanding  he  was  personally 
treated  by  the  principal  officers  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  with 
great  courtesy,  yet  it  was  evident  that  every  possible  underhanded  and 
degrading  device  was  practiced,  both  with  the  Indians  and  with  his  men, 
to  destroy,  as  much  as  was  possible,  the  value  and  profits  of  his  trade. 
In  the  spring  and  summer  of  1835  he  supplied  his  Fort  Hall  establish 
ment  with  goods. 

During  the  year  18-35,' the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  erected  a  tem 
porary  post  about  twelve  miles  up  the  Boise  River,  designed  to  coun 
teract  and  destroy  as  much  as  possible  the  American  fur  trade  estab 
lished  by  Captain  Wyeth,  who  continued  his  efforts  less  than  three 
years  ;  and,  having  lost  of  the  two  hundred  men  who  had  been  in  his 
employ  one  hundred  and  sixty  (as  stated  to  Rev.  Samuel  Parker),  and 
finding  himself  unable  to  compete  with  this  powerful  English  com 
pany,  he  accepted  Dr.  McLaughlin's  offer  for  his  establishments,  and 
left  the  country  in  1836. 

In  1835,  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions 
sent  Rev.  Samuel  Parker  and  Dr.  Marcus  Whitman  to  explore  the 
Oregon  country,  with  a  view  of  establishing  missions  among  the 
Indians  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

These  two  missionaries  reached  the  American  rendezvous  on  Green 
River,  in  company  with  the  Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Company's  traders, 
under  the  direction  of  Captains  Drips  and  Fitzpatrick.  From  the 
American  rendezvous  Mr.  Parker  continued  his  explorations  in  com 
pany  with,  and  under  the  protection  of  the  Nez  Perce  Indians,  till  he 
reached  old  Fort  Wallawalla,  now  called  Wallula ;  thence  he  continued 
in  canoes  to  Vancouver,  while  Dr.  Whitman  retuvned  to  the  United 
States  to  procure  associates  to  establish  the  Nez  Perce  mission. 


CHAPTER   V. 

Extent  and  power  of  Hudson's  Bay  Company. — Number  of  forts. — Location. — Policy. — 
Murder  of  Mr.  Black. — McKay. — Manner  of  dealing  with  Indians. — Commander  of 
fort  kills  an  Indian. — Necessity  of  such  a  course. — Hudson's  Bay  Company  not 
responsible  for  what  their  servants  do. 

HAVING  briefly  traced  the  operations  •  of  the  two  foreign  fur  com 
panies  in  Oregon,  a  knowledge  of  the  location  of  their  several  trading 
establishments  will  enable  the  reader  to  comprehend  their  power 
and  influence  in  the  country. 

Fort  Umpqua  was  located  in  the  extreme  southwestern  part  of 
Oregon,  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  bearing  that  name.  It  was  a 
temporary  stockade  built  of  logs,  overlooking  a  small  farm  in  its  im 
mediate  vicinity,  was  generally  occupied  by  a  clerk  and  from  four  to 
eight  Frenchmen. 

Fort  George  (Astoria)  already  described. 

They  had  a  farm  and  small  establishment  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Cowlitz,  and  a  more  extensive  farm  some  twenty-five  miles  up  that 
river. 

Fort  Vancouver, — a  stockade,  six  miles  above  the  month  of  the 
Multnomah,  or  Wallamet  River.  This  fort  was  the  general  depot  for 
the  southwestern  department,  at  which  their  goods  for  Indian  trade 
were  landed,  and  their  furs  and  peltries  collected  and  shipped  to 
foreign  markets.  There  Avas  also  a  trading-house  at  Champoeg,  some 
thirty-five  miles  up  the  Wallamet  River. 

On  the  left  bank  of  the  Columbia  River,  near  the  46°  of  north 
latitude,  stood  Fort  Nez  Perces,  called  Wallawalla,  now  Wallula, — a 
stockade,  accidentally  burned  in  1841,  and  rebuilt  with  adobes  in 
1841-2. 

On  the  left  bank  of  the  south  branch  of  the  Columbia,  or  Snake  River, 
at  the  junction  of  the  Boise,  was  located  Fort  Boise,  built  formerly,  in 
1834,  with  poles ;  later,  with  adobes. 

Continuing  up  Snake  River  to  the  junction  of  the  Portneuf,  on 
its  left  bank  we  find  Fort  Hall,  built  by  Captain  Wyeth;  a  stock 
ade  in  1834  ;  rebuilt  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  with  adobes, 
in  1838. 

Thence  up  the  Columbia,  Fort  Okanagon,  at  the  mouth  of  Okan- 


NUMBER  OF  FORTS.  43 

agon  River,  formerly  a  stockade,  latterly  a  house  or  hut ;  and  up  the 
Spokan  some  twenty  miles,  was  the  old  Spokan  Fort,  built  by  Astor's 
Company,  a  stockade  with%olid  bastions. 

Continuing  up  the  Columbia  to  Kettle  Falls,  and  two  miles  above, 
on  the  left  bank  is  Fort  Colville,  formerly  a  stockade,  still  occupied  by 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

Thenco  up  the  Columbia  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kootanie  River,  near 
the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  latitude,  is  the  trading  establishment  called 
Kootanie  House.  Thence  returning  south,  and  ascending  the  Flathead 
(Clark's)  and  Kootanie  rivers,  into  what  is  now  Montana  Territory,  is, 
or  was,  the  hut  called  Flathead  House.  Still  higher  up  on  the  Colum 
bia  was  a  small  establishment,  called  the  boat  encampment,  or  Mountain 
House. 

;  Entering  the  country  by  the  Straits  of  Juan  de  Fuca  and  Puget 
Sound,  we  find  Fort  Nasqualla,  formerly  a  stockade.  Proceeding  up 
Frazer  River  to  near  the  forty-ninth  parallel,  upon  the  left  or  south 
bank  of  the  river  is  Fort  Langley,  an  extensive  stockade.  Thence  up 
that  river  about  ninety  miles,  half  a  mile  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Coquehalla,  is  Fort  Hope,  a  stockade.  On  the  right  bank  of  the 
Frazer,  sixteen  miles  above,  is  Fort  Yale,  a  trading-house. 

Thence  proceeding  up  the  Frazer,  and  on  to  the  waters  of  Thompson 
River,  is  Fort  Kamloops  ;  still  further  north  and  east,  extending  into 
New  Caledonia,  are  Forts  Alexander,  William,  Garey,  and  Abercrombie. 

On  the  southeastern  part  of  Vancouver  Island  is  Fort  Victoria, 
formerly  a  stockade.  On  the  north  side  of  the  island  is  Fort  Rupert, 
a  stockade,  still  in  good  repair. 

On  the  mainland,  near  Portland  Channel,  is  Fort  Simpson.  At  the 
mouth  of  the  Stiken  River,  on  Dundas  Island,  was  formerly  Fort 
Wrangle,  a  stockade.  Recently  the  establishment  has  been  remored 
some  sixty  miles  up  the  Stiken  River,  and  called  Fort  Stiken. 

This,  as  will  be  seen,  gives  the  company  twenty-three  forts  and  five 
trading-stations.  In  addition  to  these  they  had  trading-parties  extend 
ing  south  to  California,  southeast  to  Fort  Hall  and  into  Utah  and  Ari 
zona,  east  into  the  Blackfoot  country  (Montana)  and  the  Rocky  Moun 
tains,  and  north  into  New  Caledonia  and  along  the  northwestern  water 
shed  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

They  also  had  two  steamers,  the  JBeaver  and  Otter,  to  enter  all  the 
bays,  harbors,  rivers,  and  inlets  along  the  western  coast  of  our  coun 
try,  from  Mexico  on  the  south,  to  Russian  America  on  the  north,  em 
ploying  fifty-five  officers  and  five  hundred  and  thirteen  articled  men, 
all  bound,  under  the  strictest  articles  of  agreement,  to  subserve  the 
interests  of  that  company  under  all  circumstances;  being  strictly  for- 


44:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

bidden  to  acquire  any  personal  or  real  estate  outside  of  their  stipula 
ted  pay  as  servants  of  the  company,  and  were  subject  to  such  punish 
ment  for  deficiency  of  labor  or  neglect  of  duty  as  the  officer  in  charge 
might  see  fit  to  impose,  having  no  appeal  to  any  source  for  redress,  as 
the  original  charter  of  Charles  II.,  confirmed  by  act  of  Parliament  in 
1821,  clearly  conferred  on  the  company  absolute  control  over  the 
country  they  occupied,  and  all  in  it. 

As  a  matter  of  romance  and  adventure,  many  statements  are  made 
of  conflicts  with  Indians  and  with  wild  animals,  all  terminating  favor 
ably  to  the  interests  of  the  company,  confirming  and  strengthening 
their  absolute  power  over  all  their  opponents ;  but  as  they  do  not 
properly  belong  to  a  work  of  this  character,  they  will  be  omitted, 
except  where  they  may  be  brought  to  illustrate  a  fact,  or  to  prove  the 
principles  and  policy  of  the  company. 

As  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Black,  a  chief  trader  at  Fort  Kamloops,  who 
had  offended  an  Indian,  the  Indian  disguised  his  resentment,  entered 
the  fort  as  a  friend,  and  while  Mr.  Black  was  passing  from  the  room  in 
which  the  Indian  had  been  received,  he  was  deliberately  shot  by  him, 
and  fell  dead.  The  Indian  fled,  and  the  fort  was  closed  against  the 
tribe.  Xot  a  single  article  of  trade  or  supplies  was  allowed  to  the 
tribe  till  the  murderer  was  given  up,  and  hung  by  the  company's  men, 
when  the  fort  was  opened  and  trade  resumed. 

In  another  case,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  a  trader  by  the 
name  of  McKay  was  killed  in  a  drunken  row  with  the  Indians  at  a 
salmon  fishery.  A  friendly  Indian  gave  information  at  head-quarters, 
when  an  expedition  was  fitted  out  and  sent  to  the  Indian  camp.  The 
murderer,  with  a  few  other  Indians,  was  found  in  a  canoe,  but  escaped 
to  shore.  They  were  fired  at,  and  one  woman  was  killed  and  others 
wounded.  Dr.  McLaughlin,  being  in  command  of  the  party,  informed 
the  Indians  that  if  the  murderer  was  not  soon  given  up,  he  would  pun 
ish  the  tribe.  They  soon  placed  the  murderer  in  the  hands  of  the 
party,  who  were  satisfied  of  the  guilt  of  the  Indian,  and  at  once  hung 
him,  as  an  example  of  the  punishment  that  would  be  inflicted  upon 
murderers  of  white  men  belonging  to  the  company. 

One  other  instance  of  daring  and  summary  punishment  is  related  as 
having  been  inflicted  by  Mr.  Douglas,  while  in  charge  of  a  fort  in  the 
midst  of  a  powerful  tribe  of  Indians.  A  principal  chief  had  killed  one 
of  the  company's  men.  Mr.  Douglas,  learning  that  he  was  in  a  lodge 
not  far  from  the  fort,  boasting  of  his  murderous  exploit,  armed  him 
self,  went  to  the  lodge,  identified  the  murdering  chief,  and  shot  him 
dead ;  then  walked  deliberately  back  to  the  fort. 

A  compliance  with  licensed  parliamentary  stipulations  would  have 


MANNER   OF  DEALING  WITH  INDIANS.  45 

required  the  arrest  of  the  murderers  in  all  these  cases,  and  the  testimony 
and  criminals  to  be  sent  to  Canada  for  conviction  and  execution. 

These  cases  illustrate,  whether  just  or  otherwise,  the  absolute  man 
ner  of  dealing  with  Indians  by  the  company.  The,  following  chapter 
gives  us  the  particulars  of  an  aggravated  case  of  brutal  murder  of  the 
person  in  charge  of  one  of  their  extreme  northwestern  forts  by  the 
men  under  his  charge. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Murder  of  John  McLaughlin,  Jr. — Investigation  by  Sir  George  Simpson  and  Sir  James 

Douglas. 

VERY  different  was  the  course  pursued  by  Sir  George  Simpson  and 
Mr.  (now  Sir  James)  Douglas  in  the  case  of  conspiracy  and  murder  of 
John  McLaughlin,  Jr.,  at  Fort  Wrangle,  near  the  southern  boundary 
of  Russian  America. 

In  this  case,  Sir  George  Simpson  went  into  a  partial  examination  of 
the  parties  implicated,  and  reported  that  Dr.  John  McLaughlin,  Jr., 
was  killed  by  the  men  in  self-defense.  This  report,  from  the  known 
hostility  of  Sir  George  to  the  father  and  son,  was  not  satisfactory,  and 
Esquire  Douglas  was  dispatched  to  Fort  Wrangle,  and  procured  the 
following  testimony,  which,  in  justice  to  theSmurdered  man  and  the 
now  deceased  father,  we  will  quote  as  copied  from  the  original  docu 
ments  by  Rev.  G.  Hines. 

Pierre  Kanaquassee,  one  of  the  men  employed  in  the  establishment 
at  the  time  of  the  murder,  and  in  whose  testimony  the  gentlemen  of  the 
company  place  the  utmost  reliance,  gives  the  following  narrative,  in 
answer  to  questions  proposed  by  James  Douglas,  Esq.,  the  magistrate 
that  examined  him : — 

Q.  Where  were  you  on  the  night  of  the  murder  of  the  late  Mr.  John 
McLaughlin  ? 

A.  I  was  in  my  room,  in  the  lower  part  of  the  main  .house,  .where  I 
lived  with  George  Heron,  in  an  apartment  in  the  lower  story,  immedi 
ately  under  the  kitchen.  My  door  opened  into  the"  passage  which  led 
to  the  apartment  of  Mr.  John  McLaughlin  in  the  second  story. 

Q.  What  occurred  on  the  night  of  the  murder  ? 

A.  I  will  tell  you  the  whole  story,  to  the  best  of  my  recollection. 

A  few  days  preceding  the  murder,  five  Indians  from.  Tako,  with  let 
ters  from  Dr.  Kennedy,  arrived  at  the  fort  about  midnight.  The 
watchmen,  hearing  the  knocking,  called  Mr.  John.  When  he  got  up, 
he  mustered  a  few  hands  to  defend  the  gates,  in  case  of  any  treacherous 
attack  from  the  Indians,  whom  they  did  not,  as  yet,  know.  They  were 
then  admitted  into  the  fort,  delivered  up  their  arms,  according  to  cus 
tom,  and  were  lodged  in  a  small  room  in  the  lower  story  of  the  main 
house.  A  day  or  two  after  this,  he  beat,  and  put  one  of  these  Indians, 
a  native  of  Nop,  in  irons,  as  Peter  was  told,  for  having  committed  some 


STATEMENT  OF   THE   MEN.  47 

theft  in  Tako.  About  eight  o'clock  of  the  evening  of  the  20th  of  April, 
Mr.  John  gave  liquor  to  the  Indians,  and  made  them  drunk ;  after 
which  he  called  the  white  men,  viz.,  Laperti,  Pripe,  Lulaire,  Heroux 
Bellinger,  Simon,  Fleury,  McPherson,  Smith,  and  Antoine  Kawanope. 
During  this  time,  Peter  was  in  his  own,  which  was  the  adjoining  room, 
lying  awake  in  bed,  and  overheard  all  that  passed.  He  heard  Mr.  John 
say  to  McPherson,  "  Peter  is  not  among  us.  ^Vllere  is  he  ?  "  McPher 
son  replied,  that  he  was  in  bed,  and  he  was  sent  for  him  by  Mr.  John. 
Peter,  in  consequence,  went  into  the  room,  and  saw  all  the  men  seated  in 
a  ring,  on  the  floor,  around  a  number  of  bottles  standing  within  the 
ring,  and  the  Indians  lying  dead  drunk  on  another  part  of  the  floor. 
Mr.  John  himself  was  standing  outside  of  the  ring,  and  McPherson 
placed  himself  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  ring  ;  neither  of  them  appear 
ed  to  be  partaking  of  the  festivities  of  the  evening,  but  were  looking 
on,  and  forcing  the  people  to  drink.  Antoine  Kawanope  was  seated 
on  his  bed,  apart  from  the  other  men,  perfectly  sober,  as  he  told  Peter 
afterward.  Mr.  John  had  ordered  him  not  to  drink,  observing,  "  You 
are  not  to  drink  at  this  time,  as  I  am  going  to  die  to-night,  and  you 
will  help  me  in  what  I  am  going  to  do."  On  entering  the  room,  Mr. 
John  told  Peter  to  sit  down  with  the  other  people,  and  ordered  his  ser 
vant,  Fleury,  to  give  him  a  good  dram,  which  he  did,  in  a  tin  pan.  Peter 
could  not  drink  the  whole,  and  was  threatened  by  Mr.  John  with  vio 
lence  if  he  did  not  finish  it.  He  succeeded  in  emptying  the  pan,  by 
allowing  the  liquor  to  run  into  the  bosom  of  his  shirt.  Mr.  John,  in 
doing  this,  did  not  appear  to  be  angry,  but  in  a  half-playful  mood. 
Peter  remained  there  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  during  which  time  he 
was  careful  not  to  drink  too  much,  as  a  few  hours  previously  Antoine 
had  called  at  his  room  and  said,  "  My  uncle,  take  care  of  yourself  to 
night  ;  the  master  is  going  to  die."  Peter  said,  "  Who  is  going  to  kill 
him  ?  "  and  Antoine  said,  "The  Bluemen,"  meaning  the  Kanakas,  "are 
going  to  kill  him."  This,  Peter  thought,  was  likely  to  be  the  case,  as  the 
men,  some  time  before  Christmas  preceding,  had  agreed  among  them 
selves  to  murder  him,  and  had  signed  a  paper,  which  McPherson  drew 
up,  to  that  effect.  Every  one  of  the  men  of  the  place  agreed  to  the  com 
mission  of  this  deed,  Smith  and  Heron  as  well  as  the  others.  Peter's 
name  was  signed  by  McPherson,  and  he  attested  it  by  his  cross.  This 
paper  was  signed  in  Urbaine's  house,  where  the  men  severally  repaired 
by  stealth  for  the  purpose,  as  Mr.  John  kept  so  vigilant  a  watch  upon 
them,  that  they  were  afraid  he  might  suspect  their  intentions  if  they 
were  there  in  a  body.  The  same  impression  made  him  also  remark,  in 
a  low  tone  of  voice,  to  Laperti,  on  his  first  entering  the  room,  when  he 
observed  Mr.  John  forcing  the  people  to  drink,  "I  really  believe  our 


48  HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 

master  feels  his  end  near,  as  he  never  used  to  act  in  this  manner." 
As  above  mentioned,  after  Peter  had  been  about  fifteen  minutes  in 
the  room  where  the  men  were  drinking,  Mr.  John  retired,  followed  by 
Antoine.  Mr.  John  had  not  on  that  occasion  drank  any  thing  with  the 
men,  neither  did  he  (Peter)  ever  see  him,  at  any  time  preceding,  drink 
in  their  company.  He,  however,  supposed  that  he  must  have  taken 
something  in  his  own  room,  as  he  appeared  flushed  and  excited,  but  not 
sufficiently  so  as  to  render  his  gait  in  the  least  unsteady.  McPherson 
also  did  not  taste  any  thing  in  the  room.  As  soon  as  Mr.  John  was 
gone,  Peter  also  left  the  room,  and  went  to  bed  in  his  own  room. 

Peter  was  informed  by  Antoine  that  Mr.  John,  on  leaving  the  room 
where  the  men  were  drinking,  went  up-stairs  to  his  own  apartment, 
and  he  heard  him  say  to  his  wife,  "  I  am  going  to  die  to-night."  And 
he  and  his  wife  both  began  to  cry.  Mr.  John  soon  rallied,  and  observ 
ed,  "  Very  well ;  if  I  die,  I  must  fall  like  a  man.".  He  then  told  Antoine 
to  load  his  rifles  and  pistols,  and  ordered  him  also  to  arm  himself  with 
his  own  gun.  He  and  Antoine  then  went  out,  and  Peter  thinks  he 
heard  the  report  of  more  than  fifteen  shots.  Antoine  afterward  told 
Peter  that  Mr.  John  fired  at  Laperti,  but  missed  him,  and  afterward 
ordered  Antoine  to  fire  at  Laperti.  Antoine  refused  to  do  so,  until  his 
own  life  was  threatened  by  Mr.  John,  when  he  fired  in  the  direction, 
without  aiming  at  Laperti.  He  also  told  the  Kanakas  to  kill  the  Cana 
dians,  and  it  was  in  part  they  who  fired  the  shots  that  he  (Peter)  had 
heard.  Peter  then  got  up  and  placed  himself  behind  his  door,  and  saw 
Mr.  John  come  in  and  go  up-stairs  with  Antoine,  when  he  took  the 
opportunity  of  going  out,  armed  with  his  gun  and  a  stout  bludgeon, 
and  found  the  men  standing  here  and  there  on  the  gallery  watching  an 
opportunity  to  shoot  Mr.  John.  Laperti's  position  on  the  gallery 
was  fronting  the  door  of  the  main  house,  toward  which  he  had  his 
gun  pointed ;  when  Peter  saw  him,  he  was  on  his  knees,  the  small  end 
of  the  gun  resting  on  the  top  rail  of  the  gallery,  in  readiness  to  fire. 
Laperti  exclaimed,  on  seeing  Peter,  "  I  must  kill  him  now,  as  he  has 
fired  two  shots  at  me."  Peter  objected  to  this,  and  proposed  to  take 
and  tie  him.  Nobody  answered  him.  At  that  moment,  Smith  came 
up  to  Laperti  and  told  him  to  hide  himself  or  he  would  certainly  be 
killed.  Laperti  said,  "  Where  can  I  hide  myself?"  and  Smith  said, 
"  Come  with  me  and  I  will  show  you  a  place  in  the  bastion  where  you 
can  hide  yourself,"  and  they  went  off  together  in  the  direction  of  the 
bastion  at  the  corner  of  Urbaine's  house.  Peter,  after  a  few  minutes' 
stay  on  the  gallery,  returned  to  his  house,  as  he  hack  previously  agreed 
upon  with  George  Hebram,  who  was  lying  sick  in  bed,  and  who  had 
entreated  him  not  to  leave  him  alone.  At  the  door  of  the  main  house, 


STATEMENT   OF  THE   MEN.  49 

he  met  Mr.  John  coming  out,  followed  by  Antoine,  who  was  carrying 
a  lamp.  Mr.  John  said  to  Peter,  "  Have  you  seen  Laperti  ?"  Peter 
answered,  "  No,  I  have  not  seen  him  ;"  and  then  Mr.  John  said,  "Have 
you  seen  Urbaine  ?"  And  Peter  again  answered  that  he  had  not.  The 
minute  before  this,  as  he  (Peter)  was  returning  from  the  gallery,  he  had 
seen  Urbaine  standing  at  the  corner  of  the  main  house,  next  to  Ur 
baine's  own  dwelling,  in  company  with  Simon.  Urbaine  said,  "  I  don't 
know  what  to  do ;  I  have  no  gun,  and  do  not  know  where  to  hide  my 
self."  Simon  said,  "  I  have  a  gun,  if  he  comes  I  will  shoot  him,  and 
will  be  safe."  Mr.  John,  after  Peter  passed  him,  said  to  Antoine,  "  Make 
haste,  and  come  with  the  lamp,"  and  proceeded  with  a  firm  step  to  Ur- 
baine's  house,  as  Peter,  who  continued  watching  at  the  door,  saw. 

After  he  saw  them  go  to  Urbaine's  house,  he  proceeded  toward  his 
own  room,  and  he  and  Antoine  called  out,  "  Fire  !  fire  !"  The  report 
of  several  shots,  probably  five,  immediately  followed,  and  he  heard 
Antoine  exclaiming,  "  Stop !  stop  !  stop  !  He  is  dead  now."  Antoine 
afterward  related  to  Peter,  that  on  reaching  Urbaine's  house,  Mr. 
John  ordered  him  to  go  round  by  one  corner,  while  he  went  round  by 
the  other,  directing  Antoine  to  shoot  any  of  the  Canadians  he  might 
meet.  Mr.  John  then  proceeded  in  a  stooping  position,  looking  very 
intently  before  him,  when  a  shot  was  fired  from  the  corner  of  the  house 
toward  which  he  was  going,  which  caused  his  death,  the  ball  having 
entered  at  the  upper  part  of  the  breast-bone,  a  little  below  the  gullet, 
and  come  out  a  little  below  the  shoulder,  having  broken  the  spine  in 
its  passage.  Peter  was  also  told  by  one  of  the  Kanakas,  that  as  soon 
as  Mr.  John  fell,  Urbaine  sprung  forward  from  the  corner  of  the  house 
within  a  few  paces  of  the  body,  and  put  his  foot  savagely  on  his  neck, 
as  if  to  complete  the  act,  should  the  ball  have  failed  in  causing  death. 
The  Kanakas  immediately  asked  Urbaine  who  had  killed  the  master. 
Urbaine  replied,  "  It  is  none  of  your  business  who  has  killed  him  ! " 
Peter,  who  during  this  time  had  removed  to  his  house,  seeing  Heron 
go  out  without  his  gun,  went  out  round  the  body,  and  said,  "  My 
friend,  we  have  now  done  what  we  long  intended  to  do ;  let  us  now 
carry  the  body  back  to  the  house."  Urbaine,  Laperti,  Bellinger,  and 
other  white  men  who  were  present  replied,  "  When  we  kill  a  dog,  we 
let  him  lie  where  we  kill  him."  And  Antoine  told  him  they  had  pre 
viously  given  him  the  same  reply  to  a  similar  proposition  from  him. 
Peter  then  approached  the  body,  and,  with  one  hand  under  the  neck, 
raised  the  head  and  trunk,  when  a  deep  expiration  followed,  which  was 
the  last  sign  of  animation.  He  had  previously  perceived  no  signs  of 
life,  nor  did  he  hear  any  one  say  that  any  appeared  after  the  deceased 
fell.  The  white  men  being  unwilling  to  assist  him,  he  carried  the  body, 


50  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

with  the  aid  of  the  Kanakas,  into  the  main  house,  where  he  had  it 
stripped,  washed  clean,  decently  dressed,  and  laid  out.  In  doing  so  he 
received  no  help  from  any  but  the  Kanakas.  The  wounds  made  by  the 
balls  were  very  large,  both  openings  being  circular,  and  severally  three 
inches  in  diameter.  The  body  bled  profusely,  there  being  a  deep  pool 
of  blood  found  around  it,  which  was  washed  away  afterward  by  the 
Kanakas.  Peter  never  heard  that  he  spoke  or  moved  after  he  fell. 
There  was  a  perpendicular  cut  on  the  forehead,  skin-deep,  in  a  line  with 
the  nose,  which  Peter  thinks  was  caused  by  his  falling  on  the  barrel  of 
his  rifle,  though  Urbaine  said  that  he  had  received  it  from  an  Indian 
wTith  his  dog.  It  was,  as  Peter  supposes,  about  eleven  o'clock,  P.  M., 
when  he  had  done  washing  and  laying  out  the  body ;  the  watches  had 
not  then  been  changed,  therefore  he  thinks  it  could  not  be  midnight. 
The  people  continued  coming  and  going  during  the  night,  to  see  the 
body,  and  Peter  proposed  praying  over  the  body,  as  is  customary  in 
Canada ;  but  they  objected,  saying  they  did  not  wish  to  pray  for  him. 
He  did  sit  up  with  the  body  all  night,  having  soon  after  gone,  first  to 
Urbaine's  and  then  to  Lulaire's  house,  who  each  gave  him  a  dram, 
which  he  took,  saying,  "  There  is  no  need  of  drinking  now ;  they  might 
drink  their  fill  now."  He  soon  afterward  went  to  bed. 

He  inquired  of  Martineau,  who  also  lived  in  the  same  room,  if  he  had 
fired  at  the  deceased.  He  replied,  that  he  had  fired  twice.  He  then 
asked  him  if  it  was  he  that  had  killed  him,  and  he  said,  "  I  do  not  know 
if  it  was  me  or  not."  He  (Peter)  put  the  same  question  to  several  of 
the  other  men  whom  he  saw  afterward ;  they  all  said  that  they  had 
not  shot  him,  and  Martineau  afterward  said  that  he  had  not  directed 
his  gun  at  him,  but  had  fired  in  the  air. 

The  following  morning  he  asked  Antoine  Kawanope  if  he  knew  who 
had  killed  the  deceased.  He  replied,  "  I  know  wfyo  killed  him,  but  I  am 
not  going  to  tell  you,  or  any  one  else.  When  the  governor  comes,  I 
will  tell  him."  He  asked  Antoine  why  he  would  not  tell ;  he  said  he 
was  afraid  it  might  cause  more  quarrels,  and  lead  to  other  murders.  He 
then  advised  Antoine  not  to  conceal  it  from  him,  as  he  would  tell  no 
one.  Antoine  then  said,  he  thought  it  was  Urbaine  who  had  done  the 
deed.  Peter  observed  that  Urbaine  had  no  gun.  Antoine  replied,  "  I 
think  it  was  Urbaine,  because  as  soon  as  the  deceased  fell,  Urbaine  rushed 
out  from  his  lurking-place  at  the  corner  of  the  house,  where,  I  was  in 
formed  by  the  people,  he  always  kept  his  gun  secreted,  with  the  inten 
tion  of  shooting  the  deceased."  Peter  says  Laperti,  Urbaine,  and  Simon 
were  all  concealed  in  the  corner  whence  the  shot  came,  and  he  thinks 
it  to  be  one  of  the  three  who  fired  it.  Urbaine  always  denied  having 
committed  the  murder,  and  said,  "I  am  going  to  the  Russian  fort  for 


STATEMENT  OF  THE  MEN.  51 

trial,  and  will  be  either  banished  or  hung.  I  will  let  the  thing  go  to  the 
end,  and  will  then  inform  upon  the  murderers." 

Simon  always  said  that  he  was  never  in  the  corner  from  whence  the 
shot  was  fired,  and  knew  nothing  about  the  matter ;  but  Peter  thinks 
that  he  must  have  been  there,  as  he  saw  him,  as  before  related,  at  the 
corner  of  the  main  house,  when  he  promised  to  protect  Urbaine ;  and 
from  the  situation  of  the  fort,  he  must  have  passed  that  spot  with  Ur 
baine,  as  there  was  no  other  passage  from  the  place  where  they  had 
been  standing.  Laperti  also  said  he  never  fired  at  all.  When  Peter, 
as  before  related,  went  upoju  the  gallery  after  the  first  firing  had  ceased, 
while  Mr.  John  and  Antoine  had  gone  into  the  house,  he  saw  all  the 
men  on  the  gallery,  except  Pripe,  Lulaire,  and  McPherson,  and  he  asked 
each  of  them,  respectively,  if  they  were  going  to  shoot  the  master  that 
night,  and  they  all  answered  (as  well  as  himself),  they  would  do  so  at 
the  first  chance,  except  Pehou,  a  Kanaka,  who  would  not  consent  to  the 
murder.  Smith  was  then  without  a  gun. 

Before  the  Christmas  preceding,  Peter  put  the  question  to  Smith,  how 
he  should  like  to  see  him  kill  Mr.  John  ?  He  replied,  "  I  should  like  it 
very  well ;  I  would  have  no  objection,  because  his  conduct  is  so  very 
bad  that  he  can  never  expect  to  be  protected  by  the  company."  Peter 
Manifree  says  that  Mr.  John  appeared  to  be  aware  of  the  plot  formed 
by  the  men  against  his  life ;  as  he  supposes,  through  the  information  of 
Fleury,  his  servant,  who  was  aware  of  every  thing  that  passed  among 
them.  Mr.  John  had  often  said  to  the  men,  "  Kill  me,  if  you  can.  If 
you  kill  me,  you  will  not  kill  a  woman — you  will  kill  a  man."  And  he 
kept  Antoine  as  a  sentinel  to  watch  his  room.  One  evening  George 
Heron  proposed  taking  his  life,  and  said  if  he  could  find  a  man  to  go 
with  him,  he  would  be  the  first  to  shoot  him.  Peter  refused  to  go,  and 
Heron  watched  a  great  part  of  the  night  in  the  passage  leading  to  Mr. 
John's  room,  holding  his  gun  pointed  toward  its  door,  with  the  object 
of  shooting  Mr.  John  if  he  appeared,  as  he  usually  did  .at  night  when 
going  to  visit  the  watchmen;  but  he  did  not  go  out  that  night,  or  Peter 
thinks  that  he  would  have  been  shot  by  Heron,  The  following  morning 
Peter  asked  Antoine  if  he  would  defend  Mr.  John  were  he  attacked  by 
the  people.  Antoine  said  he  would  not,  and  would  be  the  first  man  to 
seize  or  shoot  him,  should  any  attempt  be  made  against  his  life  or 
liberty.  He  put  the  same  question  to  McPherson  ;  but  McPherson  said, 
"  No,  do  not  kill  him  till  the  governor  comes,  by  and  by,  and  then 
we  shall  have  redress." 

Peter  also  says  that  all  the  unmarried  men  were  in  the  habit  of  secret 
ly  going  out  of  the  fort  at  night,  contrary  to  order,  to  visit  the  Indian 
camp,  and  that  one  evening,  when  he  wished  to  go  out,  he  met  George 


52  HISTORY  OF  OREGOX. 

Heron  on  the  gallery,  who  showed  him  where  a  rope  was  slung  to  the 
picket,  by  which  he  might  let  himself  down  to  the  ground  outside  of 
the  fort,  saying,  "  This  is  the  Avay  I  and  others  get  out,  and  you  may 
do  the  same  without  fear  of  detection."  On  the  morning  after  the 
murder  he  went  into  Urbaine's  and  Lulaire's  house  and  got  a  dram  in 
each  of  them,  out  of  two  bottles  of  rum  which  he  saw  there.  He  said, 
"Now  Mr.  John  is  dead,  I  shall  go  out  of  the  fort  and  spend  the  day 
with  my  wife."  Urbaine  replied,  "  No :  no  one  shall  go  out  of  the 
fort.  We  keep  the  keys,  and  we  shall  keep  the  gates  shut."  Peter 
was  angry  at  this,  and  said  to  Antoine,  "  When  Mr.  John  was  alive,  he 
kept  us  prisoners,  and  would  not  allow  us  to  run  after  women  ;  and 
now  that  we  have  killed  him,  the  Canadians  wish  to  keep  us  as  close  as 
he  did.  I  see  we  must  raise  the  devil  again  with  these  Canadians, 
before  we  can  get  our  liberty." 

Peter  also  says  that  one  principal  cause  of  their  dislike  to  John,  and 
their  plots  against  his  life,  was  the  strictness  with  which  he  prevented 
their  sallying  from  the  fort  in  quest  of  women;  that  he  flogged  Mar- 
tineau  for  having  given  his  blanket  to  a  woman  with  whom  he  main 
tained  illicit  commerce,  and  he  also  flogged  Lamb  and  Kakepe  for 
giving  away  their  clothes  in  the  same  manner.  This,  Peter  says,  exas 
perated  the  men. 

The  day  after  the  murder  many  of  the  men  went  tip  to  Mr.  John's 
room  to  see  the  body,  and  McPherson  remarked  to  them,  that  when 
the  master  was  living  they  were  not  in  the  habit  of  corning  up  there  ; 
but  they  did  so  now  that  he  was  dead.  On  hearing  this,  Peter  and 
Urbaine  went  away  and  never  returned.  On  their  way  to  their  own 
house,  they  met  Pripe  and  Bellinger. 

Urbaine  told  them  what  McPherson  had  said,  and  in  a  threatening 
manner  said,  "McPherson  is  getting  as  proud  as, the  other,  and  will  be 
telling  tales  about  us.  We  will  not  murder  him,  but  we  will  give  him 
a  sound  thrashing."  And  Peter  says  that  he  soon  after  went  to  Smith 
and  told  him  to  put  McPherson  on  his  guard,  as  the  Canadians  intended 
to  attack  him.  Smith  asked  Peter  what  he  would  do,  now  the  master 
was  dead,  and  Peter  said  he  would  obey  McPherson's  orders.  Smith 
replied,  "  That  is  good,  Peter.  If  we  do  not  clo  so,  we  shall  lose  all 
our  wages."  All  the  Canadians,  and,  he  thinks,  Simon,  continued 
drinking  the  whole  of  the  day  following  the  murder;  the  other  men  of 
the  fort  did  not  drink.  He  thinks  it  was  the  remains  of  the  liquor 
they  had  been  drinking  the  preceding  night.  Peter  also  says  that,  for 
a  month  previous  to  the  murder,  Urbaiue,  Laperti,  and  Simon,  were  in 
the  habit  of  getting  drunk  every  night  on  rum  purchased  from  the  In 
dians.  Peter  told  them  to  take  care  of  themselves,  because  Mr.  John 


STATEMENT  OF  THE  MEN.  53 

would  be  angry  if  he  knew  it.  Mr.  John  took  no  notice  of  their  con 
duct,  because,  as  Peter  thinks,  he  knew  of  the  plot  against  his  life,  and 
felt  intimidated.  He  also  says  that  Laperti  was  excited  against  Mr. 
John  on  account  of  a  suspected  intrigue  which  he  carried  on  with  his 
wife.  The  night  following  the  murder,  they  all  went  to  bed  quietly. 
The  next  day  all  was  also  quiet,  and  all  work  suspended,  except  watch 
ing  the  Indians,  which  they  did  very  closely,  as  they  were  afraid  they 
might  be  induced  to  attack  the  fort,  on  learning  that  the  master  was  no 
more.  They  continued  watching,  turn  about.  The  second  day  a  cof 
fin  was  made,  and  the  corpse  removed  from  the  main  house  to  the  bath, 
when  McPherson  gave  the  men  a  dram.  The  third  day  the  corpse  was 
buried  and  the  men  had  another  dram.  He  does  not  know  whether 
the  men  asked  for  the  dram,  or  whether  McPherson  gave  it  of  his  own 
accord.  The  corpse  was  carried  to  the  grave  by  Laperti,  Pripe,  Lu- 
laire,  and  some  Kanakas,  but  Urbaine  did  not  touch  it ;  does  not  think 
it  was  through  fear.  Peter  often  heard  Laperti  say,  "  I  wish  the  gov 
ernor  was  here,  to  see  what  he  would  do."  He  also  says  there  was  no 
quarrel  in  the  room  where  they  were  drinking  on  the  night  of  the  mur 
der  ;  but  he  thinks  there  might  have  been  a  quarrel  after  they  left,  as 
Pripe  was  put  in  irons  after  that  time.  He  also  says  that  the  Canadi 
ans  must  have  fixed  on  that  night  to  murder  him,  and  that  Fleury  told 
him  so,  which  accounts  for  his  apparent  dejection  of  mind,  and  of  his 
having  shed  tears  in  presence  of  his  wife  and  Antoine,  when  he  said, 
"  I  know  that  I  am  going  to  die  this  night."  He  also  thinks  this  might 
have  led  to  the  outbreak,  but  of  this  he  is  not  sure.  It  is  a  mere  matter 
of  opinion.  Mr.  John  was  a  little  in  liquor,  but  knew  perfectly  well 
what  he  was  about.  He  never  saw  him  so  far  gone  with  liquor  as  not 
to  be  able  to  walk  actively  about,  except  on  one  occasion,  the  pre 
ceding  Christmas  Eve,  when  he  appeared  to  walk  unsteady,  but  never 
theless  could  mount  the  gallery.  They  only  knew  he  had  tasted  liquor 
from  the  excitement  and  changed  appearance  of  his  countenance.  He 
does  not  know  who  first  suggested  the  idea  of  murdering  Mr.  John. 

Since  the  above  disclosures  were  made,  a  few  other  facts  have  come 
to  light,  which,  however,  do  not  materially  affect  the  character  of  these 
atrocities.  Mr.  John  McLaughlin,  Jr.,  was  doubtless  intemperate, 
reckless,  and  tyrannical,  and  often  unnecessarily  cruel  in  the  punish 
ments  inflicted  upon  his  men ;  but  he  was  surrounded  by  a  set  of  des 
peradoes,  who,  for  months  before  the  arrival  of  the  night,  during  the 
darkness  of  which  the  fatal  shot  ushered  him  into  the  presence  of  his 
Judge,  had  been  seeking  an  opportunity  to  rob  him  of  life.  Some  time 
before  this  event,  he  flogged  Peter  for  the  crime  of  stealing  fish.  Peter  was 
exceedingly  angry,  and  resolved  upon  the  destruction  of  his  master. 


54  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

At  a  time  to  suit  his  purpose,  he  went  to  the  bastion,  where  were  fire 
arms,  loaded  to  his  hands,  and  rung  the  bell  of  alarm,  with  the  inten 
tion  of  shooting  Mr.  McLaughlin  when  he  should  make  his  appearance. 
A  man  by  the  name  of  Perse  came  out  to  see  what  was  the  matter, 
instead  of  the  intended  victim,  when  Peter  fired,  but  missed  him,  the 
ball  hitting  a  post  near  his  head.  For  this  offense,  Peter  was  again 
seized,  put  in  irons,  and  subsequently  severely  flogged,  and  liberated. 
Nearly  all  the  men  had  been  flogged  from  time  to  time,  for  various 
offenses,  and  all  conspired  against  the  life  of  their  master.  As  might 
have  been  expected,  when  the  case  was  examined  by  Sir  George  Simp 
son,  the  murderers  attempted  to  cast  all  the  odium  upon  Mr.  Mc 
Laughlin,  doubtless  for  the  purpose  of  exculpating  themselves,  in 
which  attempt  they  but  too  well  succeeded,  in  the  estimation  of  Sir 
George.  Whether  the  persons  who  procured  his  death  would  be  pro 
nounced,  by  an  intelligent  jury,  guilty  of  willful  murder,  or  whether, 
from  the  mitigating  circumstances  connected  with  these  transactions, 
the  verdict  should  assume  a  more  modified  form,  is  not  for  me  to  deter 
mine.  But  it  can  not  be  denied  by  any  one,  that  the  circumstances 
must  be  indeed  extraordinary  that  will  justify  any  man,  or  set  of  men, 
to  cut  short  the  probation  of  an  immortal  being,  and  usher  him,  with 
all  his  unrepented  sins,  into  the  presence  of  his  God. 

This  account  illustrates  English  and  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  deal 
ings  with  Indians,  and  their  treatment  of  men  and  murderers,  both 
among  the  Indians  and  their  own  people. 

We  are  forced  to  acknowledge  that  we  can  not  see  the  correctness  of 
moral  principle  in  Mr.  Hine's  conclusions.  There  was  unquestionably 
a  premeditated  and  willful  murder  committed  by  the  men  at  that  fort. 
We  can  understand  the  motives  of  Sir  George  Simpson  and  Mr.  Doug 
las,  in  allowing  those  men  to  escape  the  penalty  of  their  crime,  from 
the  amount  of  pecuniary  interests  involved,  and  the  personal  jealousy 
existing  against  Dr.  McLaughlin  and  his  sons,  in  the  company's  ser 
vice.  We  know  of  jealousies  existing  between  Mr.  Simpson  and  John 
McLaughlin,  Jr.,  on  account  of  statements  made  in  our  presence  at  the 
breakfast-table,  that  were  only  settled  temporarily,  while  at  Vancouver. 
These  statements,  and  the  placing  of  this  young  son  of  the  doctor's  at 
that  post,  we  are  satisfied  had  their  influence  in  acquitting  his  murder 
ers,  if  they  did  not  in  bringing  about  the  murder,  which  to  us  appears 
plain  in  the  testimony ;  and  we  so  expressed  our  opinion,  when  the  father 
requested  us  (while  in  his  office)  to  examine  a  copy  of  those  depositions. 
We  have  no  hesitancy  in  saying,  that  we  believe  it  to  have  been  a 
malicious  murder,  and  should  have  sent  the  perpetrators  to  the  gallows. 
We  have  never  been  able  to  learn  of  the  trial  of  any  one  implicated. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Treatment  of  Indians. — Influence  of  Hudson's  Bay  Company. — Eev.  Mr.  Barnley's  state 
ment. — First  three  years. — After  that. — Treatment  of  Jesuits. — Of  Protestants. — Of 
Indians. — Not  a  spade  to  commence  their  new  mode  of  life. — Mr.  Barnley's  state 
ment. — Disappointed. — His  mistake. — Hudson's  Bay  Company  disposed  to  crush 
their  own  missionaries. 

REV.  MB.  BEAVER  says  of  them :  "  About  the  middle  of  the  sum 
mer  of  1836,  and  shortly  before  my  arrival  at  Fort  Vancouver,  six 
Indians  were  wantonly  and  gratuitously  murdered  by  a  party  of 
trappers  and  sailors,  who  landed  for  the  purpose  from  one  of  the 
company's  vessels,  on  the  coast  somewhere  between  the  mouth  of  the 
river  Columbia  and  the  confines  of  California.  Having  on  a  former 
occasion  read  the  particulars  of  this  horrid  massacre,  as  I  received 
them  from  an  eye-witness,  before  a  meeting  of  the  Aborigines  Society, 
I  will  not  repeat  them.  To  my  certain  knowledge,  the  circumstance 
was  brought  officially  before  the  authorities  of  Vancouver,  by  whom 
no  notice  was  taken  of  it ;  and  the  same  party  of  trappers,  with  the 
same  leader,  one  of  the  most  infamous  murderers  of  a  murderous  fra 
ternity,  are  annually  sent  to  the  same  vicinity,  to  perform,  if  they  please, 
other  equally  tragic  scenes.  God  alone  knows  how  many  red  men's 
lives  have  been  sacrificed  by  them  since  the  time  of  which  I  have  been 
speaking.  He  also  knows  that  I  speak  the  conviction  of  my  mind,  and 
may  he  forgive  me  if  I  speak  unadvisedly  when  I  state  my  firm  belief 

that   THE    LIFE    OF  AN    INDIAN  WAS    NEVER    YET,  BY    A   TRAPPER,  PUT    IN 
COMPETITION  WITH  A  BEAVER'S  SKIN." 

One  other  case  we  will  give  to  illustrate  the  conduct  and  treatment 
of  this  company  toward  the  Indians  under  their  "  mild  and  paternal 
care"  as  given,  not  by  a  chaplain,  or  missionary,  but  by  Lieut.  Chap- 
pel,  in  his  "  Voyage  to  Hudson's  Bay  in  H.  M.  S.  Rosamond*"  He 
relates  that  on  one  occasion,  an  English  boy  having  been  missed  from 
one  of  the  establishments  in  Hudson's  Bay,  the  company's  servants, 
in  order  to  recover  the  absent  youth,  made  use  of  the  following 
stratagem : — 

"  Two  Esquimaux  Indians  were  seized  and  confined  in  separate  apart 
ments.  A  musket  was  discharged  in  a  remote  apartment,  and  the 
settlers,  entering  the  room  in  which  one  of  the  Esquimaux  was  con 
fined,  informed  him  by  signs  that  his  companion  had  been  put  to  death 


56  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

for  decoying  away  the  boy  ;  and  they  gave  him  to  understand  at  the 
same  time  that  he  must  prepare  to  undergo  the  same  fate,  unless  he 
would  faithfully  pledge  himself  to  restore  the  absentee.  The  Esqui 
maux  naturally  promised  every  thing,  and,  on  being  set  at  liberty,  made 
the  best  of  his  way  into  the  woods,  and,  of  course,  was  never  after 
ward  heard  of.  They  kept  the  other  a  prisoner  for  some  time.  At 
length  he  tried  to  make  his  escape  by  boldly  seizing  the  sentinel's  fire 
lock  at  night ;  but  the  piece  going  off  accidentally,  h.e  was  so  terrified  at 
the  report,  that  they  easily  replaced  him  in  confinement ;  yet  either  the 
loss  of  liberty,  a  supposition  that  his  countryman  had  been  murdered, 
or  that  he  was  himself  reserved  for  some  cruel  death,  deprived  the 
poor  wretch  of  reason.  As  he  became  exceedingly  troublesome,  the 
settlers  held  a  conference  as  to  the  most  eligible  mode  of  getting  rid 
of  him  ;  and  it  being  deemed  good  policy  to  deter  the  natives  from  simi 
lar  offenses  by  making  an  example,  they  accordingly  shot  the  poor 
maniac  in  cold  blood,  without  having  given  themselves  the  trouble  to 
ascertain  whether  he  was  really  guilty  or  innocent"  (p.  156).  We  have 
quoted  these  two  examples,  from  two  British  subjects,  to  show  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company's  manner  of  treating  the  Indians,  who  were 
under  their  absolute  control  from  the  mouth  of  the  Umpqua  River, 
in  the  extreme  southwestern  part  of  Oregon,  to  the  extreme  northern 
point  on  the  coast  of  Labrador,  including  a  country  larger  in  extent 
than  the  whole  United  States. 

This  country  had  for  two  hundred  and  thirty,  years  been  in  posses 
sion  of  these  two  powerful  and  equally  unprincipled  companies,  who 
had  kept  it,  as  Mr.  Fitzgerald  says,  "so  as  to  shut  up  the  earth  from 
the  knowledge  of  man,  and  man  from  the  knowledge  of  God." 

But,  we  are  asked,  what  has  this  to  do  with  the  history  of  Oregon, 
and  its  early  settlement  ?  We  answer,  it  was  this  influence,  and  this 
overgrown  combination  of  iniquity  and  despotism — this- monster  mono 
poly,  which  England  and  America  combined  had  failed  to  overcome, — 
that  was  at  last,  after  a  conflict  of  thirty  years,  forced  to  retire  from 
the  country,  by  the  measures  first  inaugurated  by  Lee,  Whitman,  and 
the  provisional  government  of  Oregon  ;  and  now  this  same  monopoly 
seeks  to  rob  the  treasury  of  our  nation,  as  it  has  for  ages  robbed  the 
Indians,  and  the  country  of  its  furs. 

They  may  succeed  (as  they  have  heretofore,  in  obtaining  an  exten 
sion  of  their  licensed  privileges  with  the  English  government),  and  ob 
tain  from  the  American  government  what  they  now,  by  falsehood,  fraud, 
and  perjury,  claim  to  be  their  just  rights.  If  they  do,  we  shall  be  sat 
isfied  that  we  have  faithfully  and  truly  stated  facts  that  have  come  to 
our  knowledge  while  moving  and  living  in  the  midst  of  their  opera- 


REY.   MR.   BARNLEY'S   STATEMENT.  57 

tions,  and  that  we  are  not  alone  in  our  belief  and  knowledge  of  the 
events  and  influences  of  which  we  write. 

Before  closing  this  chapter  we  will  quote  one  other  witness  (a  British 
subject),  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barnley,  a  missionary  at  Moose  Factory,  on  the 
southwestern  part  of  James  Bay,  to  show  the  full  policy  of  that  com 
pany  toward  British  missionaries,  and  also  to  prove  the  assertion  we 
make  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  as  such,  is,  in  a  measure,  guilty 
of  and  responsible  for  the  Whitman  and  Frazer  River  massacres,  and 
for  the  Indian  wars  and  the  murder  of  American  citizens  contiguous 
to  their  territory. 

The  missionary  above  referred  to  says  :  "My  residence  in  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  territory  commenced  in  June,  1840,  and  continued,  with  the 
interruption  of  about  eight  months,  until  September,  1847."  The 
Whitman  massacre  was  in  November,  1847.  Mr.  Barnley  continues : 
"  My  letter  of  introduction,  signed  by  the  governor  of  the  territory, 
and  addressed  'To  the  Gentlemen  in  charge  of  the  Honorable  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  Districts  and  Posts  in  North  America,'  in  one  of  its 
paragraphs  ran  thus :  '  The  governor  and  committee  feel  the  most 
lively  interest  in  the  success  of  Mr.  Barnley's  mission,  and  I  have  to 
request  you  will  show  to  that  gentleman  every  personal  kindness  and 
attention  in  your  power,  and  facilitate  by  every  means  the  promotion 
of  the  very  important  and  interesting  service  on  which  he  is  about  to 
enter;'  and,  consequently,  whatsoever  else  I  might  have  to  endure,  I 
had  no  reason  to  anticipate  any  thing  but  cordial  co-operation  from  the 
officers  of  the  company. 

"For  the  first  three  years  I  had  no  cause  of  complaint.  The  interpre 
tation  was,  in  many  cases,  necessarily  inefficient,  and  would  have  been 
sometimes  a  total  failure,  but  for  the  kindness  of  the  wives  of  the  gen 
tlemen  in  charge,  who  officiated  for  me  ;  but  I  had  the  best  interpre 
ters  the  various  posts  afforded,  the  supply  of  rum  to  Indians  was 
restricted,  and  the  company,  I  believe,  fulfilled  both  the  spirit  and 
the  letter  of  their  agreement  with  us,  as  far  as  that  fulfillment  was  then 
required  of  them,  and  their  circumstances  allowed. 

"In  giving,  however,  tins  favorable  testimony,  so  far  as  the  first  three 
years  are  concerned,  I  must  say,  that  in  my  opinion  we  should  have 
been  informed,  before  commencing  our  labors,  that  the  interpreters  at 
some  of  the  posts  would  be  found  so  inefficient  as  to  leave  us  depend 
ent  on  the  kindness  of  private  individuals,  and  reduce  us  to  the  very 
unpleasant  necessity  of  taking  mothers  from  their  family  duties,  that 
they  might  become  the  only  available  medium  for  the  communication 
of  Divine  truth. 

"  But  after  the  period  to  which  I  have  referred,  a  very  perceptible 


58  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

change,  i.  e.,  in  1 845,  took  place.  [The  company  had  decided  to  introduce 
the  Roman  Jesuits  to  aid  them  in  expelling  all  Protestant  missionaries 
and  civilization  from  the  Indian  tribes.]  There  was  no  longer  that  hearty 
concurrence  with  my  views,  and  co-operation,  which  had  at  first  appeared 
so  generally.  The  effect  was  as  if  the  gentleman  in  charge  of  the 
southern  department  had  discovered  that  he  was  expected  to  afford 
rather  an  external  and  professed  assistance  than  a  real  and  cordial  one ; 
and,  under  his  influence,  others,  both  of  the  gentlemen  and  servants, 
became  cool  and  reluctant  in  those  services  of  which  I  stood  in  need, 
until  at  length  the  letter  as  well  as  the  spirit  of  the  company's  engage 
ment  with  me  failed."  The  reader  will  remember  that  while  Mr.  Barn- 
ley  was  receiving  this  treatment  at  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's 
establishment  at  Moose  Factory,  James  Douglas  and  his  associates  were 
combining  and  training  the  Indians  in  Oregon  for  the  purpose  of  re 
lieving,  or,  to  use  the  language  of  the  Jesuit  De  Smet,  "  to  rescue  Ore 
gon  from  Protestant  and  American  influence." 

Mr.  Barnley  continues  :  "  I  was  prohibited  from  entertaining  to  tea  two 
persons,  members  of  my  congregation,  who  were  about  to  sail  for  Eng 
land,  because  I  happened  to  occupy  apartments  in  the  officer's  residence, 
and  was  told  that  it  could  not  be  made  a  rendezvous  for  the  company's 
servants  and  their  families."  P.  J.  De  Smet,  S.  J.,  on  the  113th  page  of 
his  book,  says:  "The  Canadian- French  and  half-breeds  who  inhabit  the 
Indian  territory  treat  all  the  priests  who  visit  them  with  great  kindness 
and  respect"  On  page  313,  he  says  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
just  about  this  time  :  "In  what  manner  can  we  testify  our  gratitude  in 
regard  to  the  two  benefactors  [Douglas  and  Ogden]  who  so  generously 
charged  themselves  with  the  care  of  transporting  and  delivering  to  us 
our  cases,  without  consenting  to  accept  the  slightest  recompense  ?  *  * 
How  noble  the  sentiments  which  prompted  them  gratuitously  to  bur 
den  themselves  and  their  boats  with  the  charitable  gifts  destined  by  the 
faithful  to  the  destitute  missionaries  of  the  Indians  !"  These  last  quota 
tions  are  from  letters  of  Jesuit  missionaries,  who  were  brought  to  the 
Indian  country  by  this  same  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  furnished 
transportation  and  every  possible  facility  to  carry  on  their  missions 
among  the  Indians  all  over  the  American  Indian  country. 

These  missionaries  have  made  no  attempt  to  improve  the  condition 
of  the  Indians,  but  have  impressed  upon  their  ignorant  minds  a  rever 
ence  for  themselves  and  their  superstitions.  See  Bishop  Blanchet's 
reply  to  Cayuse  Indians,  November  4,  1847,  page  44  of  Brouillet's 
"Protestantism,  in  Oregon;"  also  pages  34-5,  Executive  Doc.  No.  38, 
J.  Ross  Browne,  as  given  below : — 

"  The  bishop  replied  that  it  was  the  pope  who  had  sent  him ;  that  he 


OPPOSITION   TO   CIVILIZATION.  59 

had  not  sent  him  to  take  their  land,  but  only  for  the  purpose  of  savin  <r 
their  souls;  that,  however,  having  to  live,  and  possessing  no  wealth,  he 
had  asked  of  them  a  piece  of  land  that  he  could  cultivate  for  his  support ; 
that  in  his  country  it  was  the  faithful  who  maintained  the  priests,  but 
that  here  he  did  not  ask  so  much,  but  only  a  piece  of  land,  and  that  the 
priests  themselves  would  do  the  rest.  He  told  them  that  he  would  not 
make  presents  to  Indians,  that  he  would  give  them  nothing  for  the 
land  he  asked ;  that,  in  case  they  worked  for  him,  he  would  pay  them 
for  their  work,  and  no  more ;  that  he  would  assist  them  neither  in 
plowing  their  lands  nor  in  building  houses,  nor  would  he  feed  or  clothe 
their  children,"  etc. 

At  Moose  Factory,  Mr.  Barnley  says :  "  A  plan  which  I  had  devised 
for  educating  and  training  to  some  acquaintance  with  agriculture  native 
children  was  disallowed,  but  permission  was  given  me  by  the  governor 
in  council  to  collect  seven  or  eight  boys  from  various  parts  of  the  sur 
rounding  country,  to  be  clothed,  and  at  the  company's  expense.  A 
proposal  made  for  forming  a  small  Indian  village  near  Moose  Factory 
was  not  acceded  to  •  and,  instead,  permission  only  given  to  attempt  the 
location  of  one  or  two  old  men  who  were  no  longer  fit  for  engaging  in 
the  chase,  it  being  very  carefully  and  distinctly  stated  by  Sir  George 
Simpson  that  the  company  would  not  give  them  even  a  spade  toward 
commencing  their  new  mode  of  life.  When  at  length  a  young  man  was 
found  likely  to  prove  serviceable  as  an  interpreter,  every  impediment 
was  interposed  to  prevent  his  engaging  in  my  service,  although  a  dis 
tinct  understanding  existed  that  neither  for  food  nor  wages  would 
he  be  chargeable  to  the  company.  And  the  pledge  that  I  should 
be  at  liberty  to  train  up  several  boys  for  future  usefulness,  though  not 
withdrawn,  was  treated  as  if  it  had  never  existed  at  all;  efforts  being 
made  to  produce  the  impression  on  the  mind  of  my  general  superin 
tendent  that  I  was,  most  unwarrantably,  expecting  the  company  to 
depart  from  their  original  compact,  when  I  attempted  to  add  but  two 
of  the  stipulated  number  to  my  household. 

"At  Moose  Factory,  where  the  resources  were  most  ample,  and 
where  was  the  seat  of  authority  in  the  southern  department  of 
Rupert's  Land,  the  hostility  of  the  company  (and  not  merely  their 
inability  to  aid  me,  whether  with  convenience  or  inconvenience  to 
themselves)  was  most  manifest. 

"  The  Indians  were  compelled,  in  opposition  to  their  convictions  and 
desires,  to  labor  on  the  Lord's  day.  They  were  not  permitted  to  pur 
chase  the  food  required  on  the  Sabbath,  that  they  might  rest  on  that 
day  while  voyaging,  although  there  was  no  necessity  for  their  proceed 
ing,  and  their  wages  would  have  remained  the  same. 


60  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

"  At  length,  disappointed,  persecuted,  'myself  and  icife  broken  in 
spirit,  and  almost  ruined  in  constitution  by  months  of  anxiety  and 
suffering,  a  return  to  England  became  the  only  means  of  escaping  a 
premature  grave;  and  we  are  happy  in  fleeing  from  the  iron  hand  of 
oppression,  and  bidding  farewell  to  th'at  which  had  proved  to  us  a 
land  of  darkness  and  of  sorrow. 

"  From  the  above  statements  you  will  perceive  that  if  true  in  some 
cases,  it  is  not  in  all,  that  the  company  have  furnished  the  4  means  of 
conveyance  from  place  to  place.'  They  have  not  done  so,  at  all  events, 
in  the  particular  case  mentioned,  nor  would  they  let  me  have  the 
canoe,  lying  idle  as  it  was,  when  they  knew  that  I  was  prepared  to 
meet  '  the  expense.' 

"And  equally  far  from  the  truth  is  it,  that  the  missionaries  have 
been  '  boarded,  lodged,  provided  with  interpreters  and  servants  free  of 
charge."* " 

In  this  last  statement,  Mr.  Barnley  is  mistaken,  for,  to  our  certain 
knowledge,  and  according  to  the  voluntary  statement  of  the  Roman 
Jesuits,  Revs.  Bishop  Blanchet,  Demer,  P.  J.  De  Smet,  Brouillet,  and 
many  other  Jesuit  missionaries,  they  received  from  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  board  and  lodging,  and  were  provided  with  interpreters, 
catechist,  transportation,  and  even  houses  and  church  buildings. 

The  only  mistake  of  Mr.  Barnley  was,  that  he  was  either  an  Epis 
copal  or  Wesleyan  missionary  or  chaplain,  like  Mr.  Beaver,  at  Fort 
Vancouver,  and  he,  like  Mr.  Beaver,  wras  a  little  too  conscientious  as 
to  his  duties,  and  efforts  to  benefit  the  Indians,  to  suit  the  policy  of 
that  company.  The  Roman  Jesuitical  religion  was  better  adapted 
to  their  ideas  of  Indian  traffic  and  morals ;  hence,  the  honorable  com 
pany  chose  to  get  rid  of  all  others,  as  they  had  done  with  all  opposing 
fur  traders.  What  was  a  civilized  Indian  worth  to  that  company?  Not 
half  as  much  as  a  common  otter  or  beaver  skin.  As  to  the  soul  of 
an  Indian,  he  certainly  could  have  no  more  than  the  gentlemen  who 
managed  the  affairs  of  the  honorable  company. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Petition  of  Red  River  settlers. — Their  requests,  from  1  to  14. — Names. — Governor 
Christie's  reply. — Company's  reply. — Extract  from  minutes. — Resolutions,  from  1  to 
9. — Enforcing  rules. — Land  deed. — Its  condition. — Remarks. 

BEFORE  closing  this  subject  we  must  explain  our  allusion  to  the  Red 
River  settlement,  and  in  so  doing  illustrate  and  prove  beyond  a  doubt 
the  settled  and  determined  policy  of  that  organization  to  crush  out 
their  own,  as  well  as  American  settlements, — a  most  unnatural,  though 
true  position  of  that  company.  It  will  be  seen,  by  the  date  of  the 
document  quoted  below,  that,  four  years  previous,  that  company,  in 
order  to  deceive  the  English  government  and  people  in  relation  to  the 
settlement  on  the  Columbia  River,  and  also  to  diminish  the  number  of 
this  Red  River  colony,  had,  by  direction  of  Sir  George  Simpson,  sent  a 
part  of  it  to  the  Columbia  department.  The  remaining  settlers  of 
Rupert's  Land  (the  Selkirk  settlement)  began  to  assert  their  right  to 
cultivate  the  soil  (as  per  Selkirk  grant),  as  also  the  right  to  trade  with 
the  natives,  and  to  participate  in  the  profits  of  the  wild  animals  in  the 
country.  The  document  they  prepared  is  a  curious,  as  well  as  im 
portant  one,  and  too  interesting  to  be  omitted.  It  reads  as  follows  : — 

"  RED  RIVER  SETTLEMENT,  ) 
August  29,  1845.       j" 

"SiR, — Having  at  this  moment  a  very  strong  belief  that  we,  as 
natives  of  this  country,  and  as  half-breeds,  have  the  right  to  hunt  furs 
in  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  territories  whenever  we  think  proper, 
and  again  sell  those  furs  to  the  highest  bidder,  likewise  having  a  doubt 
that  natives  of  this  country  can  be  prevented  from  trading  and  traffick 
ing  with  one  another,  we  would  wish  to  have  your  opinion  on  the 
subject,  lest  we  should  commit  ourselves  by  doing  any  thing  in  op 
position  either  to  the  laws  of  England  or  the  honorable  company's 
privileges,  and  therefore  lay  before  you,  as  governor  of  Red  River 
settlement,  a  few  queries,  which  we  beg  you  will  answer  in  course. 

"  Query  1.  Has  a  half-breed,  a  settler,  the  right  to  hunt  furs  in  this 
country  ? 

"2.  Has  a  native  of  this  country,  not  an  Indian,  a  right  to  hunt  furs? 

"  3.  If  a  half-breed  has  the  right  to  hunt  furs,  can  he  hire  other  half- 
breeds  for  the  purpose  of  hunting  furs  ? 


62  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

"  4.  Can  a  half-breed  sell  his  furs  to  any  person  he  pleases  ? 
"  5.  Is  a  half-breed  obliged  to  sell  his  furs  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
.pany  at  whatever  price  the  company  may  think  proper  to  give  him? 
"  6.  Can  a  half-breed  receive  any  furs,  as   a  present,  from  an  Indian, 
a  relative  of  his  ? 

"  7.  Can  a  half-breed  hire  any  of  his  Indian  relatives  to  hunt  furs  for 
him? 

"  8.  Can  a  half-breed  trade  furs  from  another  half-breed,  in  or  out  of 
the  settlement  ? 

"  9.  Can  a  half-breed  trade  furs  from  an  Indian,  in  or  out  of  the  set 
tlement  ? 

"  10.  With  regard  to  trading  or  hunting  furs,  have  the  half-breeds,  or 
natives  of  European  origin,  any  rights  or  privileges  over  Europeans  ? 

"11.  A  settler,  having  purchased  lands  from  Lord  Selkirk,  or  even 
from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  without  any  conditions  attached  to 
them,  or  without  having  signed  any  bond,  deed,  or  instrument  what 
ever,  whereby  he  might  have  willed  away  his  right  to  trade  furs,  can 
he  be  prevented  from  trading  furs  in  the  settlement  with  settlers,  or 
even  out  of  the  settlement  ? 

"  12.  Are  the  limits  of  the  settlement  defined  by  the  municipal  law, 
Selkirk  grant,  or  Indian  sale  ? 

"  13.  If  a  person  can  not  trade  furs,  either  in  or  out  of  the  settle 
ment,  can  he  purchase  them  for  his  own  and  family  use,  and  in  what 
quantity  ? 

"14.  Having  never  seen  any  official  statements,  nor  known,  but  by 
report,  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  has  peculiar  privileges  over 
British  subjects,  natives,  and  half-breeds,  resident  in  the  settlement,  we 
would  wish  to  know  what  those  privileges  are,  and  the  penalties  attach 
ed  to  the  infringement  of  the  same. 

"  We  remain  your  humble  servants, 
"  JAMES  SINCLAIR,  ALEXIS  GAULAT, 

BAPTIST  LA  ROQUE,  Louis  LETENDE  DE  BATOCHE, 

THOMAS  LOGAN,  WILLIAM  McMiLLAN, 

JOHN  DBASE,  ANTOINE  MORRAN, 

BAT.  WILKIE.  JOHN  ANDERSON, 

JOHN  VINCENT,  THOMAS  MCDERMOT, 

WILLIAM  BIRD,  ADALL  TROTTIER, 

PETER  GARIOCH,  CHARLES  HOLE, 

HENRY  COOK,  JOSEPH  MONKMAN, 

JOHN  SPENCE,  BAPTIST  FARMAN. 

"ALEXANDER  CHRISTIE,  Esq., 

"  Governor  of  Red  River  Settlement." 


RESOLUTIONS   OF   THE   COMPANY.  53 

Governor  Christie's  reply  to  these  inquiries  was  so  mild  and  concilia 
tory  that  it  will  not  add  materially  to  our  knowledge  of  the  company 
to  give  it.  But  the  eight  rules  adopted  by  the  company  in  council  let  us 
into  the  secret  soul  of  the  monstrosity,  and  are  here  given,  that  Americans 
may  be  informed  as  to  its  secret  workings,  and  also  to  show  what  little  re 
gard  an  Englishman  has  for  any  but  an  aristocratic  or  moneyed  concern. 

"  Extracts  from  minutes  of  a  meeting  of  the  Governor  and  Council  of 
Ruperts  £and,  held  at  the  Red  River  settlement,  June  10,  1845. 

"  Resolved,  1st,  That,  once  in  every  year,  any  British  subject,  if  an 
actual  resident,  and  not  a  fur  trafficker,  may  import,  whether  from  Lon 
don  or  from  St.  Peter's,  stores  free  of  any  duty  now  about  to  be  im 
posed,  on  declaring  truly  that  he  has  imported  them  at  his  own  risk. 

*'  2d.  That,  once  in  every  year,  any  British  subject,  if  qualified  as 
before,  may  exempt  from  duty,  as  before,  imports  of  the  local  value  of 
ten  pounds,  on  declaring  truly  that  they  are  intended  exclusively  to 
be  used  by  himself  within  Red  River  settlement,  and  have  been  pur 
chased  with  certain  specified  productions  or  manufactures  of  the  afore 
said  settlement,  exported  in  the  same  season,  or  by  the  latest  vessel, 
at  his  own  risk. 

"  3d.  That,  once  in  every  year,  any  British  subject,  if  qualified  as 
before,  who  may  have  personally  accompanied  both  his  exports  and 
imports,  as  defined  in  the  preceding  resolution,  may  exempt  from  duty, 
as  before,  imports  of  the  local  value  of  fifty  pounds,  on  declaring  truly 
that  they  are  either  to  be  consumed  by  himself,  or  to  be  sold  by  himself 
to  actual  consumers  within  the  aforesaid  settlement,  and  have  been  pur 
chased  with  certain  specified  productions  or  manufactures  of  the  settle 
ment,  carried  away  by  himself  in  the  same  season,  or  by  the  latest 
vessel,  at  his  own  risk. 

"4th.  That  all  other  imports  from  the  United  Kingdon  for  the  afore 
said  settlement,  shall,  before  delivery,  -pay  at  York  Factory  a  duty  of 
twenty  per  cent,  on  their  prime  cost;  provided,  however,  that  the  gov 
ernor  of  the  settlement  be  hereby  authorized  to  exempt  from  the  same 
all  such  importers  as  may  from  year  to  year  be  reasonably  believed 
by  him  to  have  neither  trafficked  in  furs  themselves,  since  the  8th  day 
of  December,  1844,  nor  enabled  others  to  do  so  by  illegally  or  improp 
erly  supplying  them  with  trading  articles  of  any  description. 

"  5th.  That  all  other  imports  from  any  part  of  the  United  States  shall 
pay  all  duties  payable  under  the  provisions  of  5  and  6  Viet.,  cap.  49, 
the  Imperial  Statute  for  regulating  the  foreign  trade  of  the  British 
possessions  in  North  America;  provided,  however,  that  the  governor- 
in-chief,  or,  in  his  absence,  the  president  of  the  council,  may  so  modify 


64:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

the  machinery  of  the  said  act  of  Parliament,  as  to  adapt  the  same  to 
the  circumstances  of  the  country. 

"  7th.  That,  henceforward,  no  goods  shall  be  delivered  at  York  Fac 
tory  to  any  but  persons  duly  licensed  to  freight  the  same;  such  licenses 
being  given  only  in  cases  in  which  no  fur  trafficker  may  have  any  inter 
est,  direct  or  indirect. 

"  8th.  That  any  intoxicating  drink,  if  found  in  a  fur  trafficker's  pos 
session,  beyond  the  limits  of  the  aforesaid  settlement,  may  be  seized  and 
destroyed  by  any  person  on  the  spot. 

"  Whereas  the  intervention  of  middle  men  is  alike  injurious  to  the 
honorable  company  and  to  the  people  ;  it  is  resolved, 

"  9th.  That,  henceforward,  furs  shall  be  purchased  from  none  but  the 
actual  hunters  of  the  same. 

"FORT  GARRY,  July  10,  1845." 

Copy  of  License  referred  to  in  Resolution  7. 

"  On  behalf  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  I  hereby  license  A.  B.  to 
trade,  and  also  ratify  his  having  traded  in  English  goods  within  the 
limits  of  lied  River  settlement.  This  ratification  and  this  license  to 
be  null  and  void,  from  the  beginning,  in  the  event  of  his  hereafter 
trafficking  in  furs,  or  generally  of  his  usurping  any  whatever  of  all  the 
privileges  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company." 

It  was  to  save  Oregon  from  becoming  a  den  of  such  oppressors  and 
robbers  of  their  own  countrymen,  that  Whitman  risked  his  life  in  1842- 
3,  that  the  provisional  government  of  the  American  settlers  was  form 
ed  in  1843,  that  five  hundred  of  them  flew  to  arms  in  1847,  and  fought 
back  the  savage  hordes  that  this  same  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had 
trained,  under  the  teaching  of  their  half-breeds  and  Jesuit  priests,  to 
sweep  them  from  the  land.  Is  this  so  ?  Let  us  see  what  they  did  just 
across  the  Rocky  Mountains  with  their  own  children,  as  stated  by  their 
own  witnesses  and  countrymen. 

Sir  Edward  Fitzgerald  says  of  them,  on  page  213  : — 

"  But  the  company  do  not  appear  to  have  trusted  to  paper  deeds  to 
enforce  their  authority. 

"  They  were  not  even  content  with  inflicting  fines  under  the  form  of  a 
hostile  tariff;  but,  as  the  half-breeds  say,  some  of  the  fur  traders  were 
imprisoned,  and  all  the  goods  and  articles  of  those  who  were  suspected 
of  an  intention  to  traffic  in  furs  were  seized  and  confiscated. 

"  But  another,  and  even  more  serious  attack,  was  made  on  the  privi 
leges  of  the  settlers. 

"  The  company  being,  under  their  charter,  nominal  owners   of  the 


NEW  LAND  DEED.  (55 

soil,  dispose  of  it  to  the  colonists  in  any  manner  they  think  best.  A 
portion  of  the  land  in  the  colony  is  held  from  Lord  Selkirk,  who  first 
founded  the  settlement. 

44  Now,  however,  the  company  drew  up  a  new  land  deed,  which  all 
were  compelled  to  sign  who  wished  to  hold  any  land  in  the  settle 
ment," 

This  new  land  deed,  above  referred  to,  is  too  lengthy  and  verbose  to 
be  given  entire  ;  therefore  we  will  only  copy  such  parts  as  bind  the  set 
tlers  not  to  infringe  upon  the  supposed  chartered  rights  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company. 

The  first  obligation  of  the  person  receiving  this  deed  was  to  settle 
upon  the  land  within  forty  days,  and,  within  five  years,  cause  one- 
tenth  part  of  the  land  to  be  brought  under  cultivation. 

The  second:  "He,  his  executors,  administrators,  and  assigns,  shall  not, 
directly  or  indirectly,  mediately  or  immediately,  violate  or  evade  any  of 
the  chartered  or  licensed  privileges  of  the  said  governor  and  company, 
or  any  restrictions  on  trading  or  dealing  with  Indians  or  others,  which 
have  been  or  may  be  imposed  by  the  said  governor  and  company,  or 
by  any  other  competent  authority,  or  in  any  way  enable  any  person 
or  persons  to  violate  or  evade,  or  to  persevere  in  violating  or  evading 
the  same  ;  and,  in  short,  shall  obey  all  such  laws  and  regulations  as  within 
the  said  settlement  now  are,  or  hereafter  may  be  in  force."  *  *  *  * 
Here  are  enumerated  a  long  list  of  political  duties  pertaining  to  the 
citizen. 

The  deed  in  its  third  condition  says :  "  And  also  that  he  [the  said  re 
ceiver  of  the  deed],  his  executors,  administrators,  and  assigns,  shall  not 
nor  will,  without  the  license  or  consent  of  the  said  governor  and  com 
pany  for  that  purpose  first  obtained,  carry  on  or  establish,  in  any  part 
of  North  America,  any  trade  or  traffic  in,  or  relating  to,  any  kind  of 
skins,  furs,  peltry,  or  dressed  leather,  nor  in  any  manner,  directly  or  in 
directly,  aid  or  abet  any  person  or  persons  in  carrying  on  such  trade  or 
traffic."  *  *  *  Here  follows  a  long  lingo,  forbidding  the  settler  to 
buy,  make,  or  sell  liquors  in  any  shape  on  his  lands,  and  requiring 
him,  under  pain  of  forfeiture  of  his  title,  to  prevent  others  from  doing  so, 
and  binding  the  settler,  under  all  the  supposed  and  unsupposed  condi 
tions  of  obligation,  not  to  supply  or  allow  to  be  supplied  any  articles 
of  trade  to  any  unauthorized  (by  the  company)  person  supposed  to 
violate  their  trade,  including  companies  u  corporate  or  incorporate, 
prince,  power,  potentate,  or  state  whatsoever,  who  shall  infringe  or 
violate,  or  who  shall  set  about  to  infringe  or  violate  the  exclusive 
rights,  powers,  privileges  and  immunities  of  commerce,  trade,  or  traffic, 
or  all  or  any  other  of  the  exclusive  rights,  powers,  privileges,  and  im- 


66  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

munities  of,  or  belonging,  or  in  any  wise  appertaining  to,  or  held,  used, 
or  enjoyed  by  the  said  governor  and  company,  and  their  successors, 
under  their  charter  or  charters,  without  the  license  or  consent  of  the 
said  governor  and  company  and  their  successors,  for  the  time  being, 
first  had  and  obtained. 

"And,  lastly," — here  follows  a  particular  statement  asserting  that 
for  the  violation  of  any  one  of  the  thousand  and  one  conditions  of  that 
deed,  the  settler  forfeits  to  the  company  his  right  to  the  land,  which 
reverts  back  to  the  company. 

Our  country  delights  to  honor  the  sailor  and  soldier  who  performs  a 
good,  great,  or  noble  act  to  save  its  territory  from  becoming  the  abode 
of  despotism,  or  its  honor  from  the  taunt  of  surrounding  nations.  In 
what  light  shall  we  regard  the  early  American  missionaries  and  pioneers 
of  Oregon  ? 

It  is  true  they  heard  the  call  of  the  oppressed  savage  for  Christian 
light  and  civilization.  They  came  in  good  faith,  and  labored  faithfully, 
though,  perhaps,  mistaking  many  of  the  strict  duties  of  the  Christian 
missionary  ;  and  some,  being  led  astray  by  the  wiles  and  cunning  of  an 
unscrupulous  fur  monopoly,  failed  to  benefit  the  Indians  to  the  extent 
anticipated  ;  yet  they  formed  the  nucleus  around  which  the  American 
pioneer  with  his  family  gathered,  and  from  which  he  drew  his  encour 
agement  and  protection  ;  and  a  part  of  these  missionaries  were  the 
leaders  and  sustainers  of  those  influences  which  ultimately  secured  this 
country  to  freedom  and  the  great  Republic. 

The  extracts  from  the  deed  above  quoted  show  what  Oregon  would 
have  been,  had  the  early  American  missionaries  failed  to  answer  the  call 
of  the  Indians,  or  had  been  driven  from  the  country ;  or  even  had  not 
Whitman  and  his  associates  separated,  the  one  to  go  to  Washington 
to  ask  for  delay  in  the  settlement  of  the  boundary  question,  the  others 
to  the  Wallamet  Valley  to  aid  and  urge  on  the  organization  of  the 
provisional  government. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Puget  Sound  Agricultural  Company. — Its  original  stock. — A  correspondence. — No  law 
to  punish  fraud. — A  supposed  trial  of  the  case. — Article  four  of  the  treaty. — The 
witnesses. — Who  is  to  receive  the  Puget  Sound  money. — Dr.  Tolmie,  agent  of  the 
company. — The  country  hunted  up. — Difficult  to  trace  a  fictitious  object. — State 
ment  of  their  claim. — Result  of  the  investigation. 

THE  Puget  Sound  Agricultural  Company,  now  claiming  of  our  gov 
ernment  the' sum  of  $1,168,000,  was  first  talked  of  and  brought  into 
existence  at  Vancouver  in  the  winter  of  1837,  in  consequence  of,  and 
in  opposition  to,  the  Wallamet  Cattle  Company,  which  was  got  up  and 
successfully  carried  through  by  the  influence  and  perseverance  of  Rev. 
Jason  Lee,  superintendent  of  the  Methodist  Mission.  This  Nasqualla 
and  Puget  Sound  Company  was  an  opposing  influence  to  Mr.  Lee  and 
his  mission  settlement,  and  was  also  to  form  the  nucleus  for  two  other 
British  settlements  in  Oregon,  to  be  under  the  exclusive  control  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

The  original  stock  of  the  company  was  nominally  £200,000.  The 
paid-up  capital  upon  this  amount  was  supposed  to'  be  ten  per  cent., 
which  would  give  £20,000,  or  $96,800,  at  $4.84  per  pound.  From  the 
most  reliable  information  we  can  get,  this  amount  was  taken  from  a 
sinking  fund,  or  a  fund  set  apart  for  the  purpose  of  opposing  any  op 
position  in  the  fur  trade.  About  the  time  this  Puget  Sound  Company 
came  into  existence,  the  American  fur  companies  had  been  driven  from 
the  country,  and  the  fund  was  considered  as  idle  or  useless  stock ;  and 
as  the  question  of  settlement  of  the  country  would  in  all  probability 
soon  come  up,  Rev.  Mr.  Lee  having  taken  the  first  step  to  the  inde 
pendence  of  his  missionary  settlement  in  the  Wallamet,  this  Puget 
Sound  Company  was  gotten  up  to  control  the  agricultural  and  cattle 
or  stock  interests  of  the  country.  It  was  in  existence  in  name  some 
two  years  before  its  definite  arrangements  were  fixed  by  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  through  the  agency  of  Dr.  W.  F.  Tolmie,  who  went  to 
to  London  for  that  purpose,  and  by  whom  they  were  concluded,  "  with 
the  consent  of  the' Hudson's  Bay  Company,  who  stipulated  that  an 
officer  connected  with  the  fur-trade  branch  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  should  have  supreme  direction  of  the  affairs  of  the  Puget 
Sound  Company  in  this  country.  It  was  also  stipulated  that  the 


(53  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Puget  Sound  Company  should  be  under  bonds  not  to  permit  any  of 
its  employes  to  be  in  any  way  concerned  in  the  fur  trade,  in  opposition 
to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company." 

It  is  easy  to  be  seen  by  the  above-stated  condition,  that  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company  were  not  willing  to  allow  the  least  interference 
with  their  fur  trade  by  any  one  over  whom  they  had  any  control  or 
influence;  that  their  design  and  object  was  to  control  the  trade  of 
the  whole  country,  and  that  they  had  no  intention  in  any  way  to  en 
courage  any  American  settlement  in  it,  as  shown  by  the  arrangements 
made  as  early  as  1837. 

There  had  been  a  correspondence  with  the  managing  directors  of  the 
company  in  London  previous  to  Dr.  Tolmie's  visit.  The  directors 
had  discouraged  the  proposed  enlargement  of  their  business,  but  it 
seems  from  the  statement  of  Dr.  Tolmie,  and  the  arrangements  he 
made,  that  they  acceded  to  his  plans,  and  constituted  him  their  special 
agent.  There  was  at  the  time  a  question  as  to  a  separate  charter  for 
that  branch  of  their  business.  It  was  finally  conceded  that  a  separate 
charter  would  enable  this  agricultural  and  cattle  company  to  become 
independent  of  the  fur  branch,  and  thus  be  the  means  of  establishing 
an  opposition  by  the  use  of  the  funds  appropriated  to  prevent  any  thing 
of  this  kind,  and  decided  that  as  the  company  had  stipulated  that  they 
were  to  have  the  "  supreme  direction  of  the  Puget  Sound  Agricultur 
al  Company,"  no  charter  was  necessary,  and  hence  any  arrangements 
to  that  effect  were  withdrawn.  It  was  from  a  knowledge  of  the  fact 
that  that  company  had  not  even  the  Parliamentary  acknowledgment 
of  its  separate  existence  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  that  all 
their  land  claims  were  at  once  taken ;  and  upon  that  ground  they  have 
not  dared  to  prosecute  their  claims,  only  under  the  wording  of  the 
treaty  with  the  United  States,  which  is  the  only  shadow  of  a  legal 
existence  they  have,  and  which,  there  is  no  question,  would  have  been 
stricken  from  the  treaty,  except  through  the  fur  influence  of  the  com 
pany  to  increase  the  plausibility  of  their  claims  against  our  govern 
ment. 

If  there  was  any  law  to  punish  a  fraud  attempted  to  be  committed 
by  a  foreign  company  upon  a  friendly  nation,  this  would  be  a  plain 
case;  as  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  they  claim  $3,822,036.37;  as  the 
Puget  Sound  Company,  $1,168,000.  The  original  stock  of  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company  was  £10,500,  or  $50,820.  In  1690  the  dividends 
upon  this  capital  invested  were  so  enormous  that  the  company  voted 
j  to  treble  their  stock,  which  was  declared  to  be  £31,500,  or  $152,460. 
In  1720  the  capital  was  again  declared  trebled,  and  to  be  £94,500,  or 
$457,380,  while  the  only  amount  paid  was  £10,500,  or  $50,820.  It  was 


THE  COMPANY  NO  BENEFIT  TO  A  COUNTRY.        (59 

then  proposed  to  add  three  times  as  much  to  its  capital  stock  by  sub 
scription  ;  each  subscriber  paying  £100  was  to  receive  £300  of  stock,  so 
that  the  nominal  stock  should  amount  to  £378,000,  or  $1,820,520 — 
the  real  additional  sum  subscribed  being  £94,500,  and  the  amount 
of  real  stock  added  or  paid  but  £3,150.  In  1821,  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  and  Northwest  Company,  of  Montreal,  were  united. 
The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  called  £100  on  each  share  of  its  stock, 
thus  raising  it  nominally  to  £200,000,  or  $958,000.  The  North 
west  Company  called  theirs  the  same.  The  two  companies  com 
bined  held  a  nominal  joint  stock  of  £400,000,  or  $1,916,000,  while 
we  have  reason  to  suppose  that  the  original  stock  of  the  two  com 
panies,  admitting  that  the  Northwest  French  Company  had  an  equal 
amount  of  original  capital  invested,  would  give  £37,300,  or  $135,134, 
as  the  capital  upon  which  they  have  drawn  from  our  country  never  less 
than  ten  per  cent,  per  annum,  even  when  counted  at  £400,000,  or 
$1,916,000;  and  what,  we  would  ask,  has  America  received  in  return 
for  this  enormous  drain  of  her  wealth  and  substance  ? 

Have  the  Indians  in*  any  part  of  the  vast  country  occupied  by  that 
company  been  civilized  or  bettered  in  their  condition  ?  Have  the 
settlements  under  their  fostering  care  been  successful  and  prosperous  ? 
Have  they  done  any  thing  to  improve  any  portion  of  the  country  they 
have  occupied,  any  farther  than  such  improvements  were  necessary  to 
increase  the  profits  of  their  fur  ti'ade  ? 

To  every  one  of  these  questions  we  say,  emphatically,  No,  not  in  a 
single  instance.  On  the  contrary,  they  have  used  their  privileges 
solely  to  draw  all  the  wealth  they  could  from  the  country,  and  leave  as 
little  as  was  possible  in  return. 

The  British  author,  from  whose  book  we  have  drawn  our  figures  of 
that  company's  stock,  says  of  them :  "  To  say,  then,  that  the  trade  of 
this  country  (England)  has  been  fostered  and  extended  by  the  mon 
opoly  enjoyed  by  the  company,  is  exactly  contrary  to  the  truth." 

We  come  now  to  learn  all  we  can  of  a  something  that  has  assumed 
the  name  of  Puget  Sound  Agricultural  Company,  and  under  that  name, 
throifgh  the  paternal  influence  of  a  bastard  corporation,  presumes  to  ask 
an  immense  sum  of  the  American  government,  whose  country  they 
have  used  all  their  power  and  influence  to  secure  to  themselves,  by  act 
ing  falsely  to  their  own.  We  do  not  claim  to  be  learned  in  the  law  of 
nations,  therefore  we  can  only  express  such  an  opinion  in  this  case  as 
we  would  were  the  case  argued  before  a  learned  court  and  we  one  of 
the  jurors,  giving  our  opinion  as  to  the  amount  the  parties  were  enti 
tled  to  receive.  We  will  suppose  that  the  lawyers  have  made  their 
pleas,  which  would,  when  printed,  with  the  testimony  on  both  sides, 


70  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

make  a  volume  of  the  usual  size  of  law  books  of  one  thousand 
pages.  Of  course  the  fourth  article  of  the  treaty  would  be  read  to  us 
by  both  the  lawyers,  and  explained  by  the  judge,  who  would  doubt 
less  say  to  the  jury  the  first  question  to  decide  is,  whether  there  is  suf 
ficient  evidence  to  convince  you  that  the  company  claiming  this  name 
have  any  legal  existence  outside  the  wording  of  the  fourth  article  of 
this  treaty.  Our  answer  would  be:  "Your  honor,  there  is  not  the 
least  word  in  a  single  testimony  presented  before  us  to  show  that  they 
ever  had  any  existence,  only  as  they  assumed  a  name  to  designate 
the  place  a  certain  branch  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  business, 
outside  of  its  legitimate  trade ;  that  this  being  a  branch  legitimately 
belonging. to  a  settlement  of  loyal  citizens  of  the  country,  we  find 
that  this  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  in  assuming  the  supreme  direction, 
as  per  testimony  of  Dr.  Tolmie,  superseded  and  usurped  the  preroga 
tives  of  the  State ;  that  the  claim  of  this  company,  as  set  up  in  the 
wording  of  the  treaty,  is  for  the  benefit  of  a  company  having  no  natu 
ral  or  legal  right  to  assume  supreme  direction  of  the  soil  or  its  pro 
ductions.  Hence  any  improvement  made,  or  stock  destroyed,  was  at 
the  risk  of  the  individual  owning,  or  making,  or  bringing  such  stock  or 
improvements  into  the  country,  and  subject  exclusively  to  the  laws  of 
the  country  in  which  the  trespass  occurred.  The  claiming  a  name 
belonging  to  no  legal  body  cannot  be  made  legal  by  a  deception  prac 
ticed  upon  the  persons  making  the  treaty,  as  this  would  be  equivalent 
to  pledging  the  nation  to  the  payment  of  money  when  no  cause  could 
be  shown  that  money  wras  justly  due,  as  neither  nation  (except  by  a 
deception  brought  to  bear  upon  commissioners  forming  the  treaty  by 
the  mere  assertion  of  an  interested  party)  acknowledged  the  reported 
existence  of  such  a  corporation,  thereby  creating  a  corporate  body  by 
the  wording  of  a  treaty."  This,  to  a  common  juror,  we  confess,  would 
look  like  removing  the  necessity  of  a  common  national  law,  in  relation 
to  all  claims  of  foreigners  who  might  feel  disposed  to  come  over  and 
trespass  upon  our  national  domain.  A  word  in  this  treaty  does  not 
settle  the  matter,  and  the  claim  should  not  be  paid.  The  article  above 
referred  to  is  commented  upon  by  Mr.  Day  as  follows  : — 

"That  by  article  four  of  the  treaty  concluded  between  the  United 
States  of  America  and  Great  Britain,  under  date  of  the  15th  day  of 
June,  1864,  it  was  provided  that  the  farms,  lands,  and  other  property, 
of  every  description,  belonging  to  the  Puget  Sound  Agricultural  Com 
pany,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Columbia  River  [they  should  have  in 
cluded  those  in  the  French  possession,  and  added  another  million  to 
their  claim;  but  we  suppose  they  became  liberal,  and  consented  to  take 
half  of  the  country  their  servants  had  settled  upon],  should  be  con- 


THE  COMPANY'S  COMPLAINT.  7^ 

firmed  to  the  said  company;  but  that  in  case  the  situation  of  those 
farms  and  lands  should  be  considered  by  the  United  States  to  be  of 
public  and  political  importance,  and  the  United  States  government 
should  signify  a  desire  to  obtain  possession  of  the  whole,  or  of  any 
part  thereof,  the  property  so  required  should  be  transferred  to  the  said 
government  at  a  proper  valuation,  to  be  agreed  upon  between  the 
parties. 

"  That  the  government  of  the  United  States  has  not,  at  any  time, 
signified  to  the  company  a  desire  that  any  of  the  said  property  should 
be  transferred  to  the  said  government  at  a  valuation  as  provided  by  the 
treaty,  nor  has  any  transfer  thereof  been  made  [this  was  a  great 
misfortune.  Uncle  Sam  had  so  much  land  of  his  own  he  did  not  want 
to  buy  out  this  bastard  company  right  away  after  the  treaty  was 
made] ;  but  the  company  have  ever  since  continued  to  be  the  rightful 
owners  of  the  said  lands,  farms,  and  other  property,  and  entitled  to  the 
free  and  undisturbed  possession  and  enjoyment  thereof.  [True ;  so 
with  all  bastards.  They  live  and  die,  and  never  find  a  father  to  own 
them,  except  they  come  up  with  a  big  pile  of  money,  which  in  your 
claim  is  a  case  of  donas  (don't  know.)] 

"  That,  by  a  convention  concluded  between  the  two  governments  on 
the  1st  day  of  July,  1863,  it  was  agreed  that  all  questions  between  the 
United  States  authorities  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Pnget  Sound  Agri 
cultural  Company  on  the  other,  with  respect  to  the  rights  and  claims 
of  the  latter,  should  be  settled  by  the  transfer  of  such  rights  and 
claims  to  the  government  of  the  United  States  for  an  adequate  money 
consideration. 

"  And  the  claimants  aver  that  the  rights  and  claims  of  the  Puget 
Sound  Agricultural  Company,  referred  to  and  intended  in  and  by  the 
said  convention,  are  their  rights  and  claims  in  and  upon  the  said  lands, 
farms,  and  other  property  of  every  description  which  they  so  held  and 
possessed  within  the  said  territory,  and  which,  by  reason  of  the  said 
treaty  of  the  15th  of  June,  1846,  and  according  to  the  terms  of  the  fourth 
article  thereof,  the  United  States  became  and  were  bound  to  confirm. 
And  of  the  said  farms  and  other  property,  they  now  submit  to  the  hon 
orable  the  commissioners  a  detailed  statement  and  valuation,  as 
follows." 

There  have  been  twenty-seven  witnesses  examined  to  prove  the  claims 
above  set  forth,  and  not  a  single  one  of  them  testified  or  gave  the  least 
intimation  that  there  ever  was  any  such  company  as  here  set  forth  in 
existence,  only  as  connected  with  and  subject  to  the  control  and  manage 
ment  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  the  same  as  their  farming  operations 
at  Vancouver  or  Colville,  or  any  other  of  their  posts.  The  claim  is  so 


72  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

manifestly  fictitious  and  without  foundation,  that  the  learned  attorney 
for  the  company  bases  his  whole  reliance  upon  the  wording  of  the 
treaty,  and  in  consequence  of  the  wording  of  that  treaty,  "  and  accord 
ing  to  the  terms  of  the  fourth  article  thereof,  he  says  the  United  States 
became  and  were  bound  to  confirm."  So  we  suppose  any  other  mon 
strous  claim  set  up  by  a  band  of  foreign  fur  traders  having  influence 
enough  to  start  any  speculation  on  a  nominal  capital  in  our  country 
and  failing  to  realize  the  profits  anticipated,  must  apply  for  an 
acknowledgment  of  their  speculation,  be  mentioned  in  a  treaty,  and  be 
paid  in  proportion  to  the  enormity  of  their  demands.  We  are  inclined 
to  the  opinion  that  so  plain  a  case  of  fraud  will  be  soon  disposed  of, 
and  the  overgrown  monster  that  produced  it  sent  howling  after  the 
Indians  they  have  so  long  and  so  successfully  robbed,  as  per  their  own 
admission,  of  £20,000,000  sterling.  (See  Mr.  M.  Martin's  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  Territory,  etc.,  p.  131.) 

There  is  another  question  arising  in  this  supposed  Puget  Sound  con 
cern.  Suppose,  for  a  moment,  the  commissioners  decide  to  pay  the 
whole  or  any  part  of  this  demand,  who  will  be  the  recipients  of 
this  money?  We  doubt  whether  the  learned  commissioners  or  the 
counsel  of  the  supposed  company  could  tell,  unless  it  is  to  be  his  fee 
for  prosecuting  the  case. 

Doctor  William  Eraser  Tolmie  and  Mr.  George  B.  Roberts  are  the 
only  two  witnesses  that  appear  to  know  much  about  the  matter,  and 
Mr.  Roberts'  information  seems  to  be  derived  from  the  same  source  as 
our  own,  so  that  the  writer,  though  not  a  member  of  the  company, 
has  about  as  good  a  knowledge  of  its  object  and  organization  as  Mr. 
Roberts,  who  was  connected  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  also 
an  agent  of  this  Puget  Sound  Company. 

Dr.  Tolmie  says :  "  The  Puget  Sound  Company  acquired,  or  purchased 
from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  all  its  improvements  at  Cowlitz  and 
Nasqualla,  with  its  lands,  live  stock,  and  agricultural  implements,  all 
of  which  were  transferred,  in  1840  or  1841,  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  to  the  Puget  Sound  Company." 

As  we  understand  this  matter,  it  amounts  to  just  this,  and  no  more : 
The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  consented  to  enlarge  their  business  by 
employing  an  outside  capital  or  sinking  fund  they  had  at  their  dis 
posal  ;  they  instructed  Dr.  Tolmie,  their  special  agent  for  that  purpose, 
to  receive  all  the  property  at  the  two  stations  or  farms  named,  to  take 
possession  of  them,  and  instead  of  opening  an  account  with  their  oppo 
sition  sinking  fund,  they  called  it  the  Puget  Sound  Agricultural 
Company.  This  explains  the  ten  per  cent,  paid  stock  into  that  com 
pany.  Now,  if  this  venture  is  profitable,  nothing  is  lost;  if  it  is  not, 


AN   AGE   OF   WONDERS.  73 

it  does  not  interfere  with  the  legitimate  business  of  the  fur  company — 
hence  the  distinct  claim  under  this  name. 

"ThePuget  Sound  Company  charged  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
for  all  supplies  furnished,  and  paid  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  for  all 
goods  received  from  them." 

This  was  exactly  in  the  line  of  the  whole  business  done  throughout 
the  entire  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  with  all  their  forts,  and  other 
establishments. 

"  Were  not  the  accounts  of  the  Puget  Sound  Company  always  for 
warded  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  depot?"  "  They  were"  says 
Dr.  Tolmie ;  and  so  were  all  the  accounts  of  all  the  posts  on  this  coast 
sent  to  the  depot  at  Vancouver,  and  thence  to  head-quarters  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

We  have  shown,  by  reference  to  the  capital  stock  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  that,  in  1821,  it  was  counted  at  £200,000.  From  this  sum  ten 
per  cent.,  or  £20,000,  was  set  apart  as  a  sinking  fund  to  oppose  any  fur 
company  or  traders  on  the  west  side  of  the  mountains,  and  an  equal 
sum  for  the  same  purpose  on  the  east. 

This  western  amount,  being  placed  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Tolmie 
and  his  successors,  produced  in  seven  years  £11,000  sterling,  equal  to 
$53,240.  This  transaction  does  not  appear, from  the  testimony  adduced 
in  the  case,  to  have  interfered  in  the  least  with  the  fur  trade  carried  on 
at  these  stations,  and  by  the  same  officers  or  clerks  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company;  hence,  we  are  unable,  from  the  whole  catalogue  of  twenty- 
seven  witnesses  in  the  case,  to  find  out  who  is  to  receive  this  nice  little 
sum  of  $1,168,000  or  £240,000— only  £40,000  more  than  the  mother 
had  to  trade  upon  when  she  produced  this  beautiful  full-grown  child, 
the  Puget  Sound  Agricultural  Company, — having  had  an  abortion  on 
the  other  side  of  the  continent  in  the  loss,  without  pay,  of  a  large 
portion  of  the  Red  River  or  Selkirk  country.  Uncle  Sam  was  ungen 
erous  there. 

This  is  truly  an  age  of  wonders,  and  this  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and 
its  productions  are  entitled  to  some  consideration  for  their  ingenuity,  if 
not  for  their  honesty.  It  will  be  interesting  to  look  at  our  British 
cousins  and  see  what  is  said  about  this  "  itself  and  its  other  self .  "  Mr. 
Fitzgerald  says,  page  260 :  "  It  is  a  matter  of  importance  to  know 
whether  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  is -about  to  submit  itself  and  its 
other  self — the  Puget  Sound  Association — to  the  same  regulations 
which  are  to  be  imposed  on  .other  settlers  of  Vancouver  Island  and 
British  Columbia." 

On  page  287,  he  further  states:  "The  Oregon  Territory  was  peo 
pled,  under  the  influence  of  the  company,  with  subjects  of  the  United 


74  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

States.  (Since  writing  the  former  chapter,  I  have  heard  this  account 
given  of  the  conduct  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  in  regard  to 
the  Oregon  boundary,  which  offers  still  stronger  ground  for  inquiry. 
The  country  south  of  the  49th  parallel,  it  seems,  was  hunted  up — 
therefore  the  posts  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  were  become  of  no 
value  at  all.  By  annexing  all  that  country  to  the  United  States,  and 
inserting  in  the  treaty  a  clause  that  the  United  States  should  pay  the 
company  for  all  its  posts  if  it  turned  them  out,  the  company  were 
able  to  obtain  from  the  Americans  a  large  sum  of  money  for  what  would 
have  been  worth  nothing  had  the  territory  remained  British.)  That  lost 
us  the  boundary  of  the  Columbia  River.  That  is  one  specimen  of  the 
colonization  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  The  boundary  westward 
from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  we  have  seen,  gave  to  the  United  States 
land  from  which  the  company  was  engaged,  at  the  very  time,  in 
driving  out  British  subjects,  on  the  plea  that  it  belonged  to  the  com 
pany  ;  and  now  that  the  boundary  has  been  settled  only  a  few  years, 
we  learn  that  the  settlers  on  our  side  are  asking  the  United  States  to 
extend  her  government  over  that  country." 

If  this  does  not  show  a  clear  case  of  abortion  on  the  part  of  that 
honorable  Hudson's  Bay  Company  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  tell  us 
what  does.  But  it  is  interesting  to  trace  a  little  further  the  British 
ideas  and  pretensions  to  this  Pacific  coast.  Our  British  author  says, 
page  288:  — 

"  Make  what  lines  you  please  in  a  map  and  call  them  boundaries,  but 
it  is  mockery  to  do  so  as  long  as  the  inhabitants  are  alienated  from  your 
rule,  as  long  as  you  have  a  company  in  power  wrhose  policy  erases  the 
lines  which  treaties  have  drawn. 

"  Forasmuch,  then,  as  these  things  are  so,  it  becomes  this  country 
[Great  Britain]  to  record  an  emphatic  protest  against  the  recent  policy 
of  the  Colonial  Office  in  abandoning  the  magnificent  country  on  the 
shores  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

"The  blindest  can  not  long  avoid  seeing  the  immense  importance  of 
Vancouver  Island  to  Great  Britain.  Those  who,  two  years  ago  [1846], 
first  began  to  attract  public  attention  to  this  question,  are  not  the  less 
amazed  at  the  unexpected  manner  and  rapidity  with  which  their  antici 
pations  have  been  realized. 

"  Six  months  ago  it  was  a  question  merely  of  colonizing  Vancouver 
Island;  now  it  is  a  question  involving  the  interests  of  the  whole  of 
British  North  America,  and  of  the  empire  of  Great  Britain  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean." 

It  is  always"  more  or  less  difficult  to  trace  the  course  of  a  false  or 
fictitious  object.  It  becomes  peculiarly  so  when  two  objects  of  the 


A   NEW   ELEMENT   OF    OPPOSITION.  75 

same  character  come  up ;  the  one,  by  long  practice  and  experience, 
assuming  a  fair  and  honorable  exterior,  having  talent,  experience,  and 
wealth  ;  the  other,  an  illegitimate  production,  being  called  into 
existence  to  cripple  the  energies  of  two  powerful  nations,  and  living 
under  the  supreme  control  of  the  body,  having  acquired  its  position 
through  the  ignorance  of  the  nations  it  seeks  to  deceive.  It  is  out  of 
the  question  to  separate  two  such  objects  or  associations.  The  one  is 
the  child  of  the  other,  and  is  permitted  to  exist  while  the  object  to  be 
accomplished  remains  an  opponent  to  the  parent  association. 

The  opposition  to  the  fur  monoply  having  ceased  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  a  new  element  of  national  aggrandizement  and  empire 
comes  within  the  range  of  this  deceitful  and  grasping  association.  Its 
child  is  immediately  christened  and  set  to  work  under  its  paternal  eye. 
We  have  the  full  history  of  the  progress  made  by  this  Mr.  Puget 
Sound  Agricultural  Company  in  the  testimony  of  the  twenty-seven 
witnesses  summoned  to  prove  his  separate  existence  from  that  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

We  find,  in  tracing  the  existence  of  these  two  children  of  the  British 

G> 

empire  in  North  America,  that  they  have  established  themselves  in  an 
island  on  the  Pacific  coast  called  Vancouver.  In  this  island  they  are 
more  thrifty  and  better  protected  than  they  were  in  the  dominions  of 
Uncle  Samuel.  Notwithstanding  they  are  comfortably  located,  and 
have  secured  the  larger  part  of  that  island  and  the  better  portion  of 
British  Columbia,  there  is  occasionally  a  British  subject  that  grumbles 
a  little  about  them  in  the  following  undignified  style  : — 

"  If  the  company  were  to  be  destroyed  to-morrow,  would  England 
be  poorer  ?  Would  there  not  rather  be  demanded  from  the  hands  of 
our  own  manufacturers  ten  times  the  quantity  of  goods  which  is  sent 
abroad,  under  the  present  system,  to  purchase  the  skins?"  My  dear 
sir,  this  would  make  the  Indians  comfortable  and  happy.  "  We  boast 
[says  this  Englishman]  that  we  make  no  slaves,  none  at  least  that  can 
taint  our  soil,  or  fret  our  sight ;  but  we  take  the  child  of  the  forest, 
whom  God  gave  us  to  civilize,  and  commit  him,  bound  hand  and  foot, 
to  the  most  iron  of  all  despotisms — a  commercial  monoply. 

"  Nor,  turning  from  the  results  of  our  policy  upon  the  native  popu 
lation,  to  its  effect  upon  settlers  and  colonists,  is  there  greater  cause  for 
congratulation. 

"  The  system  which  has  made  the  native  a  slave  is  making  the  settler 
a  rebel. 

"  Restrictions  upon  trade,  jealousy  of  its  own  privileges,  interference 
with  the  rights  of  property,  exactions,  and  all  the  other  freaks  in 
which  monopoly  and  despotism  delight  to  indulge,  have,  it  appears, 


76  HISTORY  OF  OREGOX. 

driven  the  best  settlers  into  American  territory,  and  left  the  rest,  as  it 
were,  packing  up  their  trunks  for  the  journey;" 

This,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  proceedings,  policy,  and  influence  of 
that  company  upon  the  settlement  of  Vancouver  Island  and  British 
Columbia,  is  verified  by  the  facts  now  existing  in  those  British  colonies. 
Their  whole  system  is  a  perfect  mildew  and  blight  upon  any  country 
in  which  they  are  permitted  to  trade  or  to  do  business. 

We  have  little  or  no  expectation  that  any  thing  we  may  write  will 
affect  in  the  least  the  decision  of  the  commissioners,  whose  business  it 
is  to  decide  this  Pnget  Sound  Company's  case ;  but,  as  a  faithful  his 
torian,  we  place  on  record  the  most  prominent  facts  relating  to  it,  for 
the  purpose  of  showing  the  plans  and  schemes  of  an  English  company, 
who  are  a  nuisance  in  the  country,  and  a  disgrace  to  the  nation  under 
whose  charters  they  profess  to  act.  Up  to  the  time  we  were  permitted 
to  examine  the  testimony  they  have  produced  in  support  of  their 
monstrous  claims,  we  were  charitable  enough  to  believe  there  were 
some  men  in  its  employ  who  could  be  relied  upon  for  an  honest  and 
truthful  statement  of  facts  in  relation  to  the  property  and  improve 
ments  for  which  these  claims  are  made ;  but  we  are  not  only  disap 
pointed,  but  forced  to  believe  the  truth  is  not  in  them, — at  least  in 
any  whose  testimony  is  before  us  in  either  case.  Our  English  author 
says : — 

"It  does  not  appear  that  the  interposition  of  '•an  irresponsible  com 
pany  '  can  be  attended  with  benefit  to  the  colony.  *  *  *  A  com 
pany  whose  direction  is  in  London,  and  which  is  wholly  irresponsible, 
either  to  the  colonists  or  to  the  British  Parliament.  *  *  *  There 
is  ample  evidence  in  the  foregoing  pages  that  it  would  be  absurd  to 
give  this  company  credit  for  unproductive  patriotism.  *  *  *  Con 
sidering  the  identity  existing  between  this  association  [the  Puget  Sound 
Association]  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  in  whose  hands  the  whole 
management 'of  the  colonization  of  Vancouver  Island  is  placed,  there  is  a 
very  strong  reason  to  fear  that  the  arrangements  which  have  been  made 
will,  for  some  years  at  any  rate,  utterly  ruin  that  country  as  a  field  for 
colonial  enterprise.  There  is  a  strong  inducement  for  the  company  to 
grant  all  the  best  part  of  the  island  to  themselves,  under  the  name  of  the 
Puget  Sound  Association  ;  and  to  trust  to  the  settlements  which  may  be 
formed  by  that  association  as  being  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  obligation 
to  colonize  which  is  imposed  by  the  charter. 

4'  There  is  a  strong  inducement  to  discourage  the  immigration  of 
independent  settlers  ;  first,  because  when  all  the  colonists  are  in  the 
position  of  their  own  servants,  they  will  be  able  much  more  readily  to 
prevent  interference  with  the  fur  trade-  and  secondly,  because  the 


THE   COMPANY  DISCOURAGE   SETTLERS.  77 

presence  of  private  capital  in  the  island  could  only  tend  to  diminish 
their  own  gains,  derived  from  the  export  of  agricultural  produce. 

"  And,  on  the  other  hand,  there  will  be  every  possible  discouragement 
to  emigrants  of  the  better  class  to  settle  in  a  colony  where  a  large 
part  of  the  country  will  be  peopled  only  by  the  lowest  order  of  work 
men,  where  they  may  have  to  compete  with  the  capital  of  a  wealthy 
company,  and  that  company  not  only  their  rival  in  trade,  but  at  the 
same  time  possessed  of  the  supreme  power,  and  of  paramount  political 
influence  in  the  colony. 

"  There  is  a  reason,  more  important  than  all,  why  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  will  never  be  able  to  form  a  colony.  An  agricultural  settle 
ment  they  may  establish  ;  a  few  forts,  where  Scotchmen  will  grumble 
for  a  few  years  before  they  go  over  to  the  Americans,  but  never  a  com 
munity  that  will  deserve  the  name  of  a  British  colony.  THEY  DO  XOT 

POSSESS  PUBLIC  CONFIDENCE. 

*'  But  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company — the  colonial  office  of  this  unfor 
tunate  new  colony — has  positive  interests  antagonistic  to  those  of  an 
important  settlement. 

"  It  is  a  body  whose  history,  tendency,  traditions,  and  prospects 
are  equally  and  utterly  opposed  to  the  existence,  within  its  hunting- 
grounds,  of  an  active,  wealthy,  independent,  and  flourishing  colony," 
(we  Americans  say  settlements)  "  with  all  the  destructive  consequences 
of  ruined  monopoly  and  wide-spread  civilization." 

Need  we  stop  to  say  the  above  is  the  best  of  British  testimony  in 
favor  of  the  position  we  have  assumed  in  relation  to  a  company  who 
will  cramp  and  dwarf  the  energies  of  their  own  nation  to  increase  the 
profits  on  the  paltry  capital  they  have  invested. 

Have  the  Americans  any  right  to  believe  they  will  pursue  any  more 
liberal  course  toward  them  than  they  have,  and  do  pursue  toward  their 
own  countrymen?  As  this  writer  remarks,  "civilization  ruins  their 
monopoly"  The  day  those  two  noble  and  sainted  women,  Mrs.  Spald- 
ing  and  Mrs.  Whitman,  came  upon  the  plains  of  the  Columbia,  they 
could  do  no  less  than  allow  England's  banner  to  do  them  reverence,  for 
God  had  sent  and  preserved  them,  as  emblems  of  American  civilization, 
religious  light,  and  liberty  upon  this  coast.  One  of  them  fell  by  the 
ruthless  hand  of  the  sectarian  savages,  pierced  by  Hudson's  Bay  balls 
from  Hudson's  Bay  guns.  The  other  was  carried,  in  a  Hudson's  Bay 
boat,  to  the  protecting  care  of  the  American  settlement ;  and  for  what 
purpose?  That  the  savage  might  remain  in  barbarism  ;  that  the  mon 
ster  monopoly  might  receive  its  profits  from  the  starving  body  and  soul 
of  the  Indian;  that  civilization  and  Christianity,  and  the  star  of  empire 
might  be  stayed  in  their  westward  course. 


78  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Not  yet  satisfied  with  the  blood  of  sixteen  noble  martyrs  to  civiliza 
tion  and  Christianity,  quick  as  thought  their  missives  are  upon  the 
ocean  wave.  Wafted  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind,  a  foul  slander  is  sent 
by  the  representatives  of  that  monopoly  all  over  the  earth,  to  blast  her 
(Mrs.  Whitman's)  Christian  and  missionary  character  with  that  of  her 
martyred  husband.  And  why? 

Because  that  husband  had  braved  the  perils  of  a  winter  journey  to 
the  capital  of  his  country,  to  defeat  their  malicious  designs,  to  shut  up 
the  country  and  forever  close  it  to  American  civilization  and  religion. 
And  now,  with  an  audacity  only  equaled  by  the  arch-enemy  of  God  and 
man,  they  come  to  our  government  and  demand  five  millions  of  gold 
for  facilitating  the  settlement  of  a  country  they  had  not  the  courage  or 
power  to  prevent. 

This,  to  a  person  ignorant  of  the  peculiar  arrangements  of  so  mon 
strous  a  monopoly,  will  appear  strange — that  they  should  have  an  exclu 
sive  monopoly  in  trade  in  a  country,  and  have  not  the  courage  or  power 
to  prevent  its  settlement,  especially  when  such  settlement  interferes 
with  its  trade.  So  far  as  American  territory  was  concerned,  they  were 
only  permitted  to  have  a  joint  occupancy  in  trade.  The  sovereignty  or 
right  of  soil  was  not  settled  ;  hence,  any  open  effort  against  any  settler 
from  any  country  was  a  trespass  against  the  rights  of  such  settler. 
They  could  only  enforce  their  chartered  privileges  in  British  territory. 
The  country,  under  these  circumstances,  afforded  them  a  vast  field  in 
which  to  combine  and  arrange  schemes  calculated  to  perpetuate  their 
own  power  and  influence  in  it.  The  natives  of  the  country  were  their 
trading  capital  and  instruments,  ready  to  execute  their,  will  upon  all 
opponents.  The  Protestant  missionaries  brought  an  influence  and  a 
power  that  at  once  overturned  their  licensed  privileges  in  trade,  because 
with  the  privilege  of  trade,  they  had  agreed,  in  accepting  their  original 
charter,  to  civilize  and  Christianize  the  natives  of  the  country.  This 
part  of  their  compact  the  individual  members  of  the  company  were 
fulfilling  by  each  taking  a  native  woman,  and  rearing  as  many  half- 
civilized  subjects  as  was  convenient.  This  had  the  effect  to  destroy 
their  courage  in  any  investigation  of  their  conduct.  As  to  their  power, 
as  we  have  intimated  above,  it  was  derived  from  the  capacity,  courage, 
prejudices,  and  ignorance  of  the  Indians,  which  the  American  missionary, 
if  let  alone,  would  soon  overcome  by  his  more  liberal  dealings  with 
them,  and  his  constant  effort  to  improve  their  condition,  which,  just  in 
proportion  as  the  Indians  learned  the  value  of  their  own  productions 
and  labor,  would  diminish  the  profits  in  the  fur  trade. 

This  increase  of  civilization  and  settlement,  says  chief-trader  Ander 
son,  "  had  been  foreseen  on  the  part  of  the  company,  and  to  a  certain 


IRRESPONSIBILITY   OF  THE   COMPANY.  79 

extent  provided  for.  The  cession  of  Oregon,  under  the  treaty  of  1846, 
and  the  consequent  negotiations  for  the  transfer  to  the  American  gov 
ernment  of  all  our  rights  and  possessions  in  their  territory,  retarded 
all  further  proceedings." 

In  this  statement  of  Mr.  Anderson,  and  the  statement  of  Mr.  Roberts, 
an  old  clerk  of  the  company,  and  from  our  own  observations,  this 
"  foreseeing  "  on  the  part  of  the  company  was  an  arrangement  with 
the  Indians,  and  such  as  had  been  half  civilized  by  the  various  indi 
vidual  efforts  of  the  members  and  servants  of  the  company,  to  so 
arrange  matters  that  an  exterminating  war  against  the  missionary  set 
tlements  in  the  country  should  commence  before  the  Mexican  difficulty 
with  the  United  States  was  settled. 

This  view  of  the  question  is  sustained  by  the  reply  of  Sir  James 
Douglas  to  Mr.  Ogden,  by  Mr.  Ogden's  course  and  treatment  of  the 
Indians  on  his  way  up  the  Columbia  River,  his  letters  to  Revs.  E. 
Walker  and  Spalding,  his  special  instructions  to  the  Indians,  and 
payment  of  presents  in  war  materials  for  their  captives,  and  the  course 
pursued  by  Sir  James  Douglas  in  refusing  supplies  to  the  provisional 
troops  and  settlers,  and  the  enormous  supplies  of  ammunition  furnished 
to  the  priests  for  the  Indians  during  the  war  of  1847-8. 

We  are  decidedly  of  the  same  opinion  respecting  that  company  as 
their  own  British  writer,  who,  in  conclusion,  after  giving  us  a  history 
of  281  pages,  detailing  one  unbroken  course  of  oppression  and  cruelty 
to  all  under  their  iron  despotism,, says: — 

"  The  question  at  issue  is  a  seriou-s  one, — whether  a  valuable  territory, 
shall  be  given  up  to  an  irresponsible  corporation,  to  be  colonized  or  not, 
as  it  may  suit  their  convenience ;  or  whether  that  colonization  shall  be 
conducted  in  accordance  with  any  principles  which  are  recognized  as 
Bound  and  right  ?  " 

We  can  easily  see  the  connection  in  the  principle  of  right  in  paying 
any  portion  of  either  of  the  monstrous  claims  of  that  company,  which 
never  has  been  responsible  to  any  civilized  national  authority. 

"  The  foregoing  exposure  of  the  character  and  conduct  of  the  com 
pany  has  been  provoked.  When  doubts  were  expressed  whether  the 
company  were  qualified  for  fulfilling  the  tasks  assigned  to  them  by  the 
Colonial  Minister,  and  when  they  appealed  to  their  character  and  his 
tory,  it  became  right  that  their  history  should  be  examined,  and  their 
character  exposed. 

"  The  investigation  thus  provoked  has  resulted  in  the  discovery  that 
their  authority  is  fictitious,  and  their  claims  invalid.  As  their  power  is 
illegal,  so  the  exercise  of  it  has  been  mischievous;  it  has  been  mischievous 
to  Great  Britain,  leaving  her  to  accomplish,  at  a  vast  national  expense, 


80  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

discoveries  which  the  company  undertook,  and  were  paid  to  perform ; 
and  because  our  trade  has  been  contracted  and  crippled,  without  any 
advantage,  political  or  otherwise,  having  been  obtained  in  return ;  it 
has  been  mischievous  to  the  native  Indians,  cutting  them  off  from  all 
communication  with  the  rest  of  the  civilized  world,  depriving  them  of 
the  fair  value  of  their  labor,  keeping  them  in  a  condition  of  slavery, 
and  leaving  them  in  the  same  state  of  poverty,  misery,  and  paganism 
in  which  it  originally  found  them ;  it  has  been  mischievous  to  the 
settlers  and  colonists  under  its  influence,  depriving  them  of  their  liber 
ties  as  British  subjects,  frustrating,  by  exactions  and  arbitrary  regula 
tions,  their  efforts  to  advance,  and,  above  all,  undermining  their  loyalty 
and  attachment  to  their  mother  country,  and  fostering,  by  bad  govern 
ment,  a  spirit  of  discontent  with  their  own,  and  sympathy  with  foreign 
institutions." 

This  writer  says :  "  This  is  the  company  whose  power  is  now  [in 
1849]  to  be  strengthened  and  consolidated  ! — to  whose  dominion  is  to 
be  added  the  most  important  post  which  Great  Britain  possesses  in  the 
Pacific,  and  to  whom  the  formation  of  a  new  colony  is  to  be  intrusted." 

And,  we  add,  this  is  the  power  that  has  succeeded  in  forcing  their  in- 
.  famous  claims  upon  our  government  to  the  amount  above  stated,  and 
by  the  oaths  of  men  trained  for  a  long  series  of  years  to  rob  the  Indian 
of  the  just  value  of  his  labor,  to  deceive  and  defraud  their  own  nation 
as  to  the  fulfillment  of  chartered  stipulations  and  privileges. 

The  facts  developed  by  our  history  may  not  affect  the  decision  of  the 
commissioners  in  their  case,  but  the  future  student  of  the  history  of 
the  settlement  of  our  Pacific  coast  will  be  able  to  understand  the  in 
fluences  its  early  settlers  had  to  contend  with,  and  the  English  colonist 
may  learn  the  secret  of  their  failure  to  build  up  a  wealthy  and  prosper 
ous  colony  in  any  part  of  their  vast  dominion  on  the  North  American 
continent. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Case  of  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  v.  The  United  States. — Examination  of  Mr. 
McTavish. — Number  of  witnesses. — Their  ignorance. — Amount  claimed. — Original 
stock. — Value  of  land  in  Oregon. — Estimate  of  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  prop 
erty. — Remarks  of  author. 

I  HAVE  carefully  reviewed  all  the  testimony  in  the  above  case,  on  both 
sides,  up  to  May  1,  1867.  On  April  12,  the  counsel  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States  having  already  spent  twenty-five  days  in  cross-ex 
amining  Chief-Factor  McTavish,  so  as  to  get  at  the  real  expenditures 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  arrive  at  a  just  conclusion  as  to  the 
amount  due  them, — Mr.  McTavish  having  frequently  referred  to  accounts 
and  statements  which  he  averred  could  be  found  on  the  various  books 
of  the  company, — gave  notice  to  the  counsel  of  the  company  in  the  fol- 
lowinsr  lano;uao;e : — 

O  O  O 

"  The  counsel  for  the  United  States  require  of  Mr.  McTavish,  who,  as 
appears  from  his  evidence,  is  a  chief  factor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany,  and  its  agent  in  the  prosecution  of  this  claim,  to  produce  here  for 
examination  by  the  United  States  or  their  counsel,  all  accounts,  account- 
books,  and  letter-books  of  said  company,  together  with  the  regulations 
under  which  their  books  were  kept,  and  the  various  forms  of  contracts 
with  servants  of  the  company,  all  of  which  books,  rules,  and  forms  con 
tain  evidence  pertinent  to  the  issue  in  this  case,  as  appears  from  the 
cross-examination  of  Mr.  McTavish,  and  suspends  the  further  cross-ex 
amination  of  this  witness  until  he  shall  produce  such  books,  accounts, 
rules,  and  forms." 

On  the  1st  of  May  Mr.  McTavish's  examination  was  resumed. 

Int.  952. — "  Will  you  please  produce  here  for  examination  by  the 
United  States  or  their  counsel,  all  accounts,  account-books,  and  letter- 
books  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  which  were  kept  at  the  various 
posts  of  that  company  south  of  the  49th  parallel  of  north  latitude  during 
their  occupation  by  the  company,  together  with  the  regulations  under 
which  their  books  were  kept,  and  the  regular  forms  of  contracts  with 
the  company's  servants?" 

Ans. — "  I  can  not  say  whether  I  will  produce  them  or  not." 

(The  above  question  was  objected  to  as  incompetent,  and  as  asking 
the  witness,  not  as  to  what  he  knows  of  the  subject,  but  as  to  what  his 
6 


gg  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

future  course  of  action  will  be,  over  which,  as  witness,  he  can  have  no 
control.) 

During  the  examination  of  Mr.  McTavish  it  was  evident  that  he  was 
the  main  prosecuting  witness,  and  considerably  interested  in  the  results 
of  the  claim,  or  suit. 

It  would  doubtless  be  interesting  to  most  of  our  readers  to  see  a  re 
view  of  the  testimony,  or  at  least  a  summary  of  the  evidence  presented 
on  both  sides  in  this  case.  There  are  now  printed  about  one  thousand 
pages  of  documents  and  depositions.  That  relating  particularly  to  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  comprises  about  two-thirds  of  the  whole 
amount.  The  balance  relates  more  particularly  to  the  Puget  Sound 
Agricultural  Company's  claim.  This  claim,  the  company  have  not 
been  able,  by  any  testimony  yet  presented,  to  separate  from  that  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company;  so  that  there  is  no  prospect  of  their  re 
ceiving  one  dollar  on  that  account.  There  have  been  examined  on  the 
part  of  the  Puget  Sound  Company,  to  prove  its  separate  existence  from 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  thirty  witnesses ;  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  twenty-one.  On  the  part  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  claim 
as  separate  from  the  Puget  Sound  Company,  nineteen  witnesses  ;  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States,  thirty.  On  both  sides  not  far  from  forty-five 
witnesses  have  been  called  upon  the  stand  to  testify  in  this  important 
case.  The  company  in  London  have  been  requested  to  furnish  evidence 
of  the  separate  organization  or  independent  existence  of  the  two  com 
panies  ;  and  with  all  this  evidence  produced,  nothing  definite  or  certain 
is  shown,  except  that  the  concern  was  gotten  up  to  deceive  the  English 
people  and  rob  the  American  government,  and  to  counteract  and  oppose 
the  American  settlement  of  this  country. 

As  a  looker-on  and  an  observer  of  events  in  this  country,  I  must  con 
fess  my  astonishment  at  the  ignorance,  perverseness,  and  stupidity  of 
men  whom  I  have  ever  heretofore  regarded  as  honorable  and 
truthful. 

From  the  testimony  before  me  of  the  twenty  odd  English  witnesses, 
it  really  appears  as  though  they  felt  that  all  they  had  to  do  was  to  ask 
their  pay,  and  our  government  would  give  it  to  them;  or,  in  other 
words,  they,  as  Englishmen  and  British  subjects,  are  prepared  to  com 
pel  the  payment  of  any  sum  they  demand. 

There  are  many  interesting  developments' brought  out  in  this  case 
relative  to  the  early  history  of  this  country,  which  renders  the  depo 
sitions  in  the  case,  though  voluminous  and  tedious  in  the  main,  yet 
interesting  to  the  close  and  careful  student  of  our  history. 

If  time  and  opportunity  is  given,  I  will  review  this  whole  testimony 
as  a  part  of  the  history  of  this  country,  and,  in  so  doing,  will  endeavor 


ORIGINAL   STOCK   OF   THE   COMPANY.  33 

to  correct  an  erroneous  impression  that  will  result  from  the  testimony 
as  now  before  us. 

The  amount  claimed  in  this  case  is  four  million  nine  hundred  and 
ninety  thousand  thirty-six  dollars  and  sixty-seven  cents,  or,  nine  hun 
dred  and  eighty-five  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  sterling, 
in  gold  coin. 

I  now  have  before  me,  including  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  me 
morial,  eleven  hundred  and  twenty-six  pages  of  printed  documents  and 
depositions  relating  to  this  case.  I  also  have  what  may  properly  be 
termed  British  testimony,  bearing  directly  upon  this  case,  which  is  enti 
tled  to  its  full  weight  in  a  proper  and  just  decision  as  to  the  amount  of 
compensation  this  Hudson's  Bay  Company  is  entitled  to  receive  from 
our  government. 

I  do  not  propose  to  review  all  the  one  thousand  four  hundred  and 
nineteen  pages  of  statements  and  depositions  in  detail ;  that  would  be 
too  tedious,  though  I  might  be  able  to  make  it  interesting  to  the  gen 
eral  reader,  as  it  develops  the  whole  history  of  that  portion  of  our  con 
tinent  that  has  for  one  hundred  and  ninety-seven  years  been  under  the 
exclusive  jurisdiction  of  a  monopoly  that  effectually  closed  it  to  all  out 
side  influences  up  to  the  year  A.  D.  1834. 

According  to  our  British  testimony,  it  was  originally  £10,500.  In 
1690,  in  consequence  of  the  enormous  profits  upon  this  small  capital,  it 
was  increased  threefold,  making  it  £31,500.  In  1720  it  was  declared 
to  be  £94,500.  In  this  year  the  stock  was  (as  is  termed)  watered.  The 
then  proprietors  each  subscribed  £100,  and  received  £300  of  stock, 
calling  the  whole  nominal  stock  £378,000,  while  the  actual  subscription 
was  but  £94,500,  and  only  £3,150  was  paid.  The  stock  was  ordered 
to  reckon  at  £103,500,  while  the  actual  total  amount  paid  was  but 
£13,050. 

In  1821,  there  was  another  "watering"  of  the  stock,  and  a  call  of 
£100  per  share  on  the  proprietors,  which  raised  their  capital  to  £200,- 
000.  The  Northwest  Fur  Company  joined  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
in  this  year,  and  the  joint  stock  was  declared  to  be  £400,000. 

We  are  ready  to  admit,  in  fact,  the  testimony  in  the  case  goes  to 
prove,  that  the  French  Northwest  Company  brought  into  the  concern 
an  equal  amount  of  capital  with  that  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 
This  would  give  the  present  Hudson's  Bay  Company  a  real  capital  of 
£27,300,  a  nominal  capital  of  £400,000. 

By  reference  to  the  memorial  of  the  company,  we  find  they  claim, 
on  the  8th  of  April,  1867,  of  our  government: — 

For  the  right  to  trade,  of  which  the  settlement  of  the  country  and 
removal  of  Indians  to  reservations  has  deprived  them,  £200,000. 


84:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

For  the  right  of  the  free  navigation  of  the  Columbia  River, 
£300,000. 

For  their  forts,  farms,  posts,  and  establishments,  with  the  buildings 
and  improvements,  £285,350,  making,  in  all,  £785,350,  or»$3, 822,036.67, 
or  £385,350  more  than  the  whole  amount  of  nominal  stock  which  they 
claim  to  have  invested  in  their  entire  trade. 

We  will  not  stop  to  speak  of  the  morality  of  this  claim ;  it  is  made 
in  due  form,  and  this  with  the  claim  as  set  forth  in  the  same  document, 
to  wit :  For  lands,  farms,  forts,  and  improvements,  £190,000  ;  loss  of  live 
stock  and  other  losses,  £50,000  ;  total,  £240,000— equal  to  $1,188,000, 
to  be  paid  in  gold.  In  British  money  these  two  sums  amount  to 
£1,025,350  sterling,  in  American  dollars  to  $4,990,036.67  ;  or  £625,350 
sterling  money  more  than  their  nominal  stock,  and  £998,050  sterling 
more  than  all  their  real  stock  invested. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  this  demand  is  simply  on  account  of  the 
settlement  of  Oregon  by  the  Americans.  A  part  of  the  posts  for 
which  this  demand  is  made  are  still  in  their  undisputed  possession,  and 
a  large  portion  of  the  claim  is  set  up  in  consequence  of  the  loss  of  the 
profits  of  the  fur  trade,  of  that  portion  of  their  business  as  conducted 
in  territory  that  originally  belonged  to  the  United  States,  and  was 
actually  given  up  to  them  by  the  treaty  of  December  24,  1814. 

The  reader  will  bear  in  mind,  that  in  the  review  or  discussion  of 
this  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  claim  on  our  government,  we  only  refer 
to  that  part  of  their  trade,  and  the  rights  or  privileges  they  were 
permitted  to  enjoy,  jointly  with  Americans,  in  what  is  now  absolutely 
American  territory.  Over  two-thirds  of  their  capital  has  always  been 
employed  in  territory  that  the  American  has  not  been  permitted  to 
enter,  much  less  to  trade  and  form  a  settlement  of  any  kind. 

The  witnesses  on  the  part  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  have  been 
forty-one  in  number.  Of  this  number  fifteen  are  directly  interested  in 
the  results  of  the  award.  Fourteen  were  brought  to  the  country  by,  and 
remained  in  the  service  of  the  company  till  they  left  the  country ;  and 
were  all  British,  though  some  of  them  have  become  naturalized  American 
citizens.  Twelve  are  American  citizens,  and  are  supposed  to  have  no 
particular  interest  in  the  results  of  the  case ;  in  fact,  their  statements 
are  all  of  a  general  and  very  indefinite  character.  Having  come  to 
the  country  since  1850,  they  know  but  little  or  nothing  about  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  its  rights,  policy,  or  interests  there.  Not  one 
of  them  appears,  from  the  testimony  given,  to  understand  the  justness 
of  the  company's  claim,  or  the  injustice  there  would  be  in  allowing 
any  part  of  it.  Their  testimony  appears  to  be  given  under  the  im 
pression  that  because  the  treaty  stipulated  that  the  possessory  rights 


VALUE   OF  LAND   IN   OREGON.  85 

of  the  company  were  acknowledged  and  to  be  respected,  that  there 
fore  full  payment  must  be  paid  the  company  for  the  right  of  trade, 
and  the  prospective  profits  in  trade,  and  the  increased  value  of  as 
sessable  property  for  an  indefinite  period  in  the  future.  As,  for  exam 
ple,  a  witness  is  asked: — 

"What  is  the  present  value  per  acre  of  the  company's  claims  at 
Cowlitz  and  Nasqualla,  for  farming  and  grazing  purposes  ?" 

Ans. — "Supposing  both  claims  to  belong  to  the  same  person  or  com 
pany,  having  a  clear  and  undisputed  title,  and  perfectly  exempt  from 
molestation  in  the  transaction  of  business,  I  think  the  Cowlitz  claim 
worth  to-day  thirty  dollars  an  acre,  and  the  Nasqualla  claim  five 
dollars  an  acre,  for  farming  and  grazing  purposes." 

The  fifteen  interested  witnesses  all  testify  to  about  the  same  thing, 
asserting  positively  as  to  the  real  value  of  the  company's  supposed 
rights.  One  of  the  chief  factors,  in  answer  to  the  interrogatory, 
"State  the  value  of  the  post  at  Vancouver,  as  well  in  1846  as  since, 
until  the  year  1863 ;  give  the  value  of  the  lands  and  of  the  buildings 
separately ;  and  state  also  what  was  the  value  of  the  post  in  relation 
to  the  other  posts,  and  as  a  center  of  trade,"  said : — 

"  It  being  the  general  depot  for  the  trade  of  the  company  west  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  1 846  the  establishment  at  Vancouver,  with  its 
out-buildings,  was  in  thorough  order,  having  been  lately  rebuilt; 
taking  into  account  this  post"  (a  notorious  fact  that  but  two  new 
buildings  were  about  the  establishment  and  in  decent  repair),  "  together 
with  the  various  improvements  at  the  mill,  on  the  mill  plain,  on 
the  lower  plain,  and  at  Sauvies  Island,  I  should  estimate  its  value 
then  to  the  company  at  from  five  to  six  hundred  thousand  dollars." 

The  value  of  the  land  used  by  the  company,  at  Fort  Vancouver,  in 
1846,  say  containing  a  frontage  of  twenty-five  miles  on  the  Columbia, 
by  ten  miles  in  depth,  in  all  two  hundred  and  fifty  square  miles,  or 
about  160,000  acres,  I  should  calculate  as  being  worth  then,  on  an 
average,  from  $2.50  to  $3  an  acre  (at  $2.50  would  give  us  $400,000) ; 
this,  with  the  improvements,  say  $500,000,  gives  us,  at  this  witness's 
lowest  estimate,  $900,000  for  the  company's  possessory  rights. 

This  witness  goes  into  an  argument  stating  surrounding  and  probable 
events,  and  concludes  in  these  words:  "I  am  clearly  of  opinion  that 
had  the  company  entire  control  to  deal  with  it  as  their  own,  without 
any  question  as  to  their  title,  from  the  year  1846  and  up  to  1858,  when 
I  left  there,  taking  the  fort  as  a  center  point,  the  land  above  and  below 
it,  to  the  extent  of  three  square  miles,  or  1,920  acres,  with  frontage  on 
the  Columbia  River,  could  have  been  easily  disposed  of  for  $250  per 
acre  ($480,000).  The  remainder  of  the  land  claim  of  the  company  at 


8(3  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Vancouver  is  more  or  less  valuable,  according  to  its  locality ;  thus,  I 
consider  the  land  on  the  lower  plain,  having  frontage  on  the  river  for  a 
distance  of  five  miles,  or  3,200  acres,  as  worth  $100  per  acre  ($320,000). 
Below  that,  again,  to  the  Cathlapootl,  a  distance  of  probably  ten  miles, 
with  a  depth  of  two  miles,  or  12,800  acres,  is  worth  $25  an  acre  ($320,000). 
Going  above  the  fort  plain,  and  so  on  to  the  commencement  of  the 
claim,  two  miles  above  the  saw-mill  on  the  Columbia  River,  say  a  dis 
tance  of  six  or  seven  miles  and  back  three  miles,  or  about  13,500  acres, 
should  be  worth  from  $10  to  $15  per  acre"  ($135,000,  at  $10,  his  lowest 
estimate).  "The  remainder  of  the  claim  is  worth  from  $1.50  to  $3  per 
acre."  It  being  128,580  acres,  at  $1.50  per  acre,  $192,580.  This  would 
make  for  the  Vancouver  property,  as  claimed,  and  several  witnesses 
have  sworn  the  value  to  amount,  as  per  summary  of  a  chief  factor's 
testimony — 

For  the  fort,  buildings,  farm  and  mill  improvements $500,000 

1,920  acres  of  land  about  the  fort,  at  $250  per  acre 400,000 

3,200     "      below  the  fort,  at  SI 00  "      "    320.000 

12,800     "      on  lower  plain,  at  $'25  "      "    320,000 

13,500     "      above  the  saw-mill,  at  $10         "      "     320,000 

128,580     "      balance  of  claim,  at  $1.50         "      "    192,580 

This  gives  us  the  sum  of  $1,947,580  in  gold  coin,  as  the  value  of  the  pos 
sessory  rights  of  the  honorable  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  Fort 
Vancouver  and  its  immediate  surroundings. 

This  chief  factor's  oath  and  estimate  of  the  property  is  sustained  by 
the  estimates  and  oaths  of  three  other  chief  factors,  amounting  to  about 
the  same  sum.  This  one,  after  answering  in  writing,  as  appears  in  his 
cross-examination,  twenty  sworn  questions  affirming  to  the  facts  and 
truth  of  his  knowledge  of  the  claims  and  business  of  the  company,  etc., 
is  cross-questioned  (Interrogatory  477),  by  the  counsel  for  the  United 
States,  as  follows :  "  Can  you  not  answer  the  last  interrogatory 
more  definitely?"  The  476th  interrogatory  was :  "Have  you  not  as 
much  knowledge  of  what  the  company  claimed  in  this  direction  as 
any  other?"  The  answer  to  the  477th  interrogatory  is:  "Referring 
to  my  answer  to  the  last  interrogatory,  it  will  be  at  once  seen  that  / 
have  no  personal  knowledge  as  to  what  land  the  company  actually 
claimed  on  that  line  or  any  other,  as  regards  the  land  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Fort  Vancouver.  This  answer  embraces  even  the  present 
time." 

There  are  several  American  witnesses  introduced  to  prove  this  mon 
strous  claim,  and  to  show  the  reasonableness  and  justness  of  their 
demand.  I  will  give  a  specimen  of  an  answer  given  by  one  of  them. 
After  estimating  the  amount  of  land  in  a  similar  manner  to  the  witness 
above  referred  to,  calculating  the  land  in  four  divisions,  at  $50,  $10,  and 


IGNORANCE   OP   THE   COMPANY'S   WITNESSES.  37 

$1.25  per  acre,  and  161,000  acres  amounting  to  8789,625,  without  any 
estimate  upon  the  buildings  or  improvements,  the  following  question 
was  put  to  him :  "  Have  you  any  knowledge  of  the  market  value  of  land 
in  the  vicinity  of  Vancouver,  at  any  time  since  1860?" 

Ans. — "  I  only  heard  of  one  sale,  which  was  near  the  military  re 
serve  ;  I  think  this  was  of  100  acres,  and  I  understand  brought  $100  an 
acre.  I  heard  of  this  within  the  last  few  months,  but  nothing  was  said, 

O  / 

that  I  remember,  about  the  time  when  the  sale  was  made." 

From  the  intelligence  and  official  position  of  this  American  witness, 
we  are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  enriching  effects  of  old  Hud 
son's  Bay  rum  must  have  made  him  feel  both  wealthy  and  peculiarly 
liberal  in  estimating  the  possessory  rights  of  his  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  friends. 

There  is  one  noticeable  fact  in  relation  to  quite  a  number  of  the  wit 
nesses  called,  and  that  have  testified  in  behalf  of  the  company's  claim. 
It  is  their  ignorance — we  may  add,  total  ignorance — of  the  general  busi 
ness,  profits,  and  policy  of  the  company.  This  remark  will  apply  to 
every  witness  whose  deposition  has  been  taken,  including  their  book 
keepers  and  clerks  in  London,  and  their  chief  factors  in  Oregon.  Dr. 
McLaughlin  seems  to  have  been  the  only  man  upon  this  coast  that 
knew,  or  that  could  give  an  intelligent  account  of  its  policy  or  its  pro 
ceedings. 

The  whole  Hudson's  Bay  Company  concern  appears  like  a  great  bar 
rel,  bale,  or  box  of  goods,  put  up  in  London,  and  marked  for  a  certain 
district,  servants  and  clerks  sent  along  with  the  bales,  and  boxes,  and 
barrels  of  rum,  to  gather  up  all  the  furs  and  valuable  skins  they  can 
find  all  over  the  vast  country  they  occupy,  then  bale  up  these  furs  and 
skins  and  send  them  to  London,  where  another  set  of  clerks  sell  them 
and  distribute  the  profits  on  the  sale  of  the  furs. 

As  to  the  value  of  the  soil,  timber,  minerals,  or  any  improvements 
they  have  ever  seen  or  made  in  the  country,  they  are  as  ignorant  as  the 
savages  of  the  country  they  have  been  trading  with.  This  ignorance 
is  real  or  willful.  The  oaths  of  the  two  witnesses  to  which  I  have  re 
ferred  show  this  fact  beyond  a  doubt,  they  having  been  the  longest  in 
the  service,  and  attained  a  high  position,  and  should  know  the  most  of 
its  business  and  policy. 

There  is  one  other  American  witness  that  has  given  his  testimony  in 
the  case  of  Puget  Sound  Agricultural  Company  v.  United  States. 
He  came  to  this  country  in  1853.  In  cross-interrogatory  55,  he  is 
asked  :  "  In  your  opinion,  did  not  the  agents  of  this  company  afford 
great  protection  to  the  first  settlers  of  this  section  of  country  by  the 
exercise  of  their  influence  over  the  different  Indian  tribes  ?" 


83  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Ans.— "In  my  opinion,  the  officers  of  the  company,  being  educated 
gentlemen,  have  always  exerted  whatever  influence  they  might  have 
had  with  the  Indians  to  protect  the  whites  of  all  nations  in  the  early 
settlement  of  the  country." 

This  opinion  is  expressed  by  a  gentleman  having  no  knowledge  of 
the  policy  and  proceedings  of  the  company  in  relation  to  all  American 
settlers  previous  to  his  arrival  in  the  country.  He  concludes  that 
because  he,  in  his  official  transactions,  having  no  occasion  to  ask  or 
receive  the  company's  protection,  was  treated  kindly,  all  others  must 
have  been,  as  the  company's  officers  were,  in  his  opinion,  "  educated 
gentlemen." 

In  answer  to  this  last  official  American  gentleman  and  his  officious 
opinion,  as  expressed  on  oath  in  this  case,  I  will  quote  a  statement, 
under  oath,  of  one  of  our  old  bed-rock  settlers,  who  came  on  to  the 
west  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  1829,  twenty-four  years  previous 
to  the  last  witness,  who  pretends  to  know  so  much. 

Tnt.  7. — "  What  influence  did  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  exercise 
over  the  Indians  in  the  section  where  you  operated,  with  reference  to 
the  American  trappers  and  traders  ?  State  such  facts  as  occur  to  you 
in  this  connection." 

Ans. — "The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  exercised  a  great  influence 
over  the  western  Indians  J  that  is,  the  Cayuses,  Nez  Perces,  Flatheads, 
and  Spokans,  and  others  through  these ;  they  had  no  influence  over  the 
Indians  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  at  all,  and  away  south  they  could 
do  almost  any  thing  with  the  Indians.  I  know  of  one  party  that  was 
robbed  by  order  of  one  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  men,  the 
commander  of  Fort  Wallawalla  (Wallula) ;  the  party  was  robbed,  and 
the  fur  brought  back  to  the  fort  and  sold.  I  was  not  with  the  party  ; 
that  was  my  understanding  about  the  matter ;  and  that  was  what  the 
Indians  said,  and  what  the  whites  said  that  were  robbed."  (A  fact 
known  to  the  writer.) 

Int.  1 3. — "  Was  it  not  generally  understood  among  the  American 
trappers  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  got  a  very  large  quantity  of 
Jedediah  Smith's  furs,  for  which  he  and  they  failed  to  account  to  the 
company  to  which  they  belonged  ?"  (Objected  to,  because  it  is  leading, 
immaterial,  and  hearsay.) 

Ans. — "  It  used  to  be  said  so  among  the  trappers  in  the  mountains," 
(and  admitted  by  the  company,  as  no  correct  account  was  ever 
rendered.) 

In  t.  1 4. — "  If  you  remember,  state  the  quantity  which  was  thus 
reported."  (Objected  to  as  before.) 

Ans. — "  It  was  always  reported  as  about  forty  packs." 


PREPARATION   OF   THE   COMPANY   FOR   DAMAGES.  §9 

Int.  15. — "Give  an  estimate  of  the  value  of  forty  packs  of  beaver 
at  that  time." 

Ans. — "  Forty  packs  of  beaver  at  that  time,  in  the  mountains,  was 
worth  about  $20,000.  I  do  not  know  what  they  would  be  worth  at 
Vancouver." 

Int.  16. — "State  whether  the  dispute  about  this  matter  was  the 
cause  of  the  dissolution  of  the  firm  of  Smith,  Jackson  &  Sublet,  to 
which  you  refer  in  your  cross-examination."  (Objected  to  as  above.) 

Ans. — "  I  do  not  know  ;  that  was  the  report  among  mountain  men." 

With  these  specimens  of  testimony  on  both  sides,  I  will  venture  a 
general  statement  drawn  from  the  whole  facts  developed. 

About  the  time,  or  perhaps  one  year  before,  the  notice  that  the  joint 
occupancy  of  the  country  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  was  given  by 
the  American  government  to  that  of  the  British,  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  as  such,  had  made  extensive  preparations  and  arrangements 
to  hold  the  country  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  This  arrangement 
embraced  a  full  and  complete  organization  of  the  Indian  tribes  under 
the  various  traders  and  factors  at  the  various  forts  in  the  country. 

The  probability  of  a  Mexican  war  with  the  United  States,  and  such 
influences  as  could  be  brought  to  bear  upon  commissioners,  or  the 
treaty-making  power  of  the  American  government,  would  enable  them 
to  secure  this  object.  In  this  they  failed.  The  Mexican  war  was  suc 
cessfully  and  honorably  closed.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  claims 
are  respected,  or  at  least  mentioned  as  in  existence,  in  the  treaty  of  1846, 
that  the  49th  parallel  should  be  the  boundary  of  the  two  national 
dominions. 

On  the  strength  of  their  supposed  possessory  right,  they  remain 
quietly  in  their  old  forts  and  French  pig-pens,  take  a  full  inventory 
of  their  old  Indian  salmon-houses,  and  watch  the  progress  of  American 
improvement  upon  this  coast,  till  1863,  when  the  American  people  are 
in  the  midst  of  a  death  struggle  for  its  civil  existence.  They  then  for 
the  third  time  "water"  this  monstrosity  under  the  name  of  "'The  In 
ternational  Financial  Society,  limited,'  are  prepared  to  receive  subscrip 
tions  for  the  issue  at  par  of  capital  stock  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany,  incorporated  by  royal  charter,  1670,"  fixing  the  nominal  stock 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  at  £2,000,000 ;  and  taking  from  this 
amount  £1,930,000,  they  offer  it  for  sale  under  this  new  title  in  shares 
of  £20  each,  claiming  as  belonging  to  them  \i.  e.,  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company]  1,400,000  square  miles,  or  upward  of  896,000,000  acres  of 
land,  and,  after  paying  all  expenses,  an  income  of  £81,000  in  ten  years, 
up  to  the  31st  of  May — over  four  per  cent,  on  the  £2,000,000."  This 
vast  humbug  is  held  up  for  the  English  public  to  invest  in, — a  coloniza- 


90  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

tion  scheme  to  enrich  the   favored   shareholders  of  that  old  English 
aristocratic  humbug  chartered  by  Charles  II.  in  16 TO. 

In  the  whole  history  of  that  company  there  has  never  been  any 
investigation  of  its  internal  policy  so  thorough  as  in  the  present  pro 
ceedings.  In  fact,  this  is  the  first  time  they  have  ventured  to  allow  a 
legal  investigation  into  their  system  of  trade  and  their  rights  of  prop 
erty.  They  have  grown  to  such  enormous  proportions,  and  controlled 
so  vast  a  country,  that  the  government  and  treasury  of  the  United 
States  has  become,  in  their  estimation,  a  mere  appendage  to  facilitate 
their  Indian  trade  and  financial  speculations.  From  our  recent  pur 
chases  of  Russian  territory,  it  becomes  an  important  question  to  every 
American  citizen,  and  especially  our  statesmen,  to  make  himself  familiar 
with  so  vast  an  influence  under  the  British  flag,  and  extending  along 
so  great  an  extent  of  our  northern  frontier.  Should  they  establish,  by 
their  own  interested  and  ignorant  testimony,  their  present  claims,  there 
will  be  no  end  to  their  unreasonable  demands,  for  they  have  dotted  the 
whole  continent  with  their  trading-posts.  They  claim  all  that  is  sup 
posed  to  be  of  any  value  to  savage  and  civilized  man.  The  English 
nation  without  its  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  old  traps  and  hunting- 
parties  would  have  no  claim  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  yet,  for  the 
sake  of  these,  it  has  almost  ventured  a  third  war  with  our  American 
people  in  sending  from  its  shores,  instead  of  land  pirates,  under  the 
bars  and  stars,  the  red  flag  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  The  two 
flags  should  be  folded  together  and  laid  up  in  the  British  Museum,  as 
a  lasting  monument  of  British  injustice. 

I  apprehend,  from  a  careful  review  of  all  this  testimony  of  the  forty- 
one  witnesses  who  were  on  the  part  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
and  the  forty-two  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  that  the  whole 
policy  of  the  company  has  been  thoroughly  developed  ;  yet,  at  the  same 
time,  without  a  long  personal  acquaintance  with  their  manner  of  doing 
business,  it  would  be  difficult  to  comprehend  the  full  import  of  the  tes 
timony  given,  though  I  apprehend  the  commissioners  will  have  no 
very  difficult  task  to  understand  the  humbuggery  of  the  whole  claim, 
as  developed  by  the  testimony  of  the  clerks  in  London  and  the  investi 
gation  at  head-quarters.  As  to  the  amount  of  award,  I  would  not  risk 
one  dollar  to  obtain  a  share  in  all  they  get  from  our  government.  On 
the  contrary,  a  claim  should  be  made  against  them  for  damages  and 
trespass  upon  the  American  citizens,  as  also  the  lives  of  such  as  they 
have  caused  to  be  murdered  by  their  influence  over  the  Indians. 

The  telegraph  has  informed  us  that  the  commissioners  have  awarded 
to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  $450,000,  and  to  the  Puget  Sound 
concern,  8200,000.  We  have  no  change  to  make  in  our  opinion  of  the 


NO  ONE  CAN  APPROVE  THIS  AWARD.  91 

commissioners  previously  expressed,  as  they  must  have  known,  from  the 
testimony  developed  in  the  Puget  Sound  concern,  that  that  part  of  the 
claim  was  a  fictitious  one,  and  instituted  to  distract  the  public  and 
divide  the  pretensions  to  so  large  an  amount  in  two  parts.  That  the 
commissioners  should  allow  it  can  only  be  understood  upon  the  princi 
ple  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  were  entitled  to  that  amount  as 
an  item  of  costs  in  prosecuting  their  case. 

No  man  at  all  familiar  with  the  history  of  this  coast,  and  of  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company,  can  conscientiously  approve  of  that  award.  Our 
forefathers,  in  1776,  said  "millions  for  defense,  but  not  one  cent  for 
tribute,"  which  we  consider  this  award  to  be, — for  the  benefit  of  English 
duplicity  and  double-dealing,  in  the  false  representations  they  made  at 
the  making  of  the  treaty,  and  the  perjury  of  their  witnesses. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Quotation  from  Mr.  Swan. — His  mistake. — General  Gibbs'  mistake. — Kamaiyahkan. — 
Indian  agent  killed. — 1. 1.  Stevens  misjudged. 

THE  gigantic  fraud  of  slavery  fell,  in  our  own  land,  in  the  short  space 
of  four  years;  but  that  of  this  company — holding  and  destroying  as 
many  lives  as  the  African  slave  trade — holds  its  own,  and  still  lifts  its 
head,  under  the  patronage  of  a  professed  Christian  nation ;  and  claims 
to  be  an  honorable  company,  while  it  robs  and  starves  its  unnumbered 
benighted  Indians,  and  shuts  up  half  of  North  America  from  civili 
zation.  At  the  same  time  it  has  obtained  $650,000  for  partially  with 
drawing  its  continued  robberies  of  the  American  Indians  within  the 
United  States,  after  implanting  in  the  savage  mind  an  implacable  hatred 
against  the  American  people. 

While  we  have  our  own  personal  knowledge  on  this  point,  we  will 
give  a  quotation  from  Mr.  Swan's  work,  written  in  1852,  page  381, 
showing  his  views  of  the  subject,  which  are  mostly  correct ;  but,  in 
speaking  of  the  trade  of  the  Americans  and  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  he  says :  "  The  Indians  preferred  to  trade  with  the  Americans, 
for  they  kept  one  article  in  great  demand,  which  the  Hudson's  Bay 
people  did  not  sell,  and  that  was  whisky." 

In  this  Mr.  Swan  is  entirely  mistaken.  The  Hudson's  Bay  people 
always  had  liquor,  and  let  the  Indians  have  all  they  could  pay  for,  as 
proved  by  their  own  writer,  Mr.  Dunn.  (See  12th  chapter.)  Mr.  S. 
continues  :  "  Reckless,  worthless  men,  who  are  always  to  be  found  in 
new  settlements,  would  give  or  sell  whisky  to  the  Indians,  and  then, 
when  drunk,  abuse  them.  If  the  injury  was  of  a  serious  nature,  the 
Indian  was  sure  to  have  revenge ;  and  should  he  kill  a  white  man, 
would  be  certainly  hanged,  if  caught ;  but,  although  the  same  law 
operated  on  the  whites,  I  have  nevej  known  an  instance  where  a  white 
man  has  been  hanged  for  killing  an  Indian."  This  has  been  my  expe 
rience,  Mr.  Swan,  for  more  than  thirty  years,  with  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  or  English.  When  a  white  man  kills  an  Indian,  the 
tribe,  or  his  friends,  are  satisfied  with  a  present,  instead  of  the  life  of 
the  murderer^  It  has  been  invariably  the  practice  with  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  to  pay,  when  any  of  their  people  kill  an  Indian,  and  to 
kill  the  Indian  murderer;  not  so  when  an  American  is  killed.  Says 


CAN  THE   COMPANY'S  FRIENDSHIP  BE   BOUGHT?  93 

Mr.  Swan :  "  The  ill-feelings  thus  engendered  against  the  Americans,  by 
this,  and  other  causes,  was  continually  fanned  and  kept  alive  by  these 
half-breeds  and  old  servants  of  the  company ,  whose  feelings  were  irri 
tated  by  what  they  considered  an  unwarrantable  assumption  on  the 
part  of  these  settlers,  in  coming  across  the  mountains  to  squat  upon 
lands  they  considered  theirs  by  right  of  prior  occupancy.  The  officers 
of  the  company  also  sympathized  with  their  old  servants  in  this  respect, 
and  a  deadly  feeling  of  hatred  has  existed  between  these  officers  and  the 
American  emigrant,  for  their  course  in  taking  possession  of  the  lands 
claimed  by  the  Puget  Sound  Agricultural  Company,  and  other  places 
on  the  Sound  and  the  Columbia  River ;  and  there  is  not  a  man  among 
them  who  would  not  be  glad  to  have  had  every  American  emigrant 
driven  out  of  the  country."  It  is  unnecessary  to  add  examples  of  this 
kind  to  prove  to  any  reasonable  mind  the  continued  hostility  of  that 
company,  and  all  under  its  influence,  to  the  American  government  and 
people. 

Can  their  friendship  be  bought  by  paying  them  the  entire  sum  they 
claim  ?  We  think  not. 

Whatever  sum  is  given  will  go  to  enrich  the  shareholders,  who  will 
rejoice  over  their  success,  as  an  Indian  would  over  the  scalp  of  his 
enemy.  The  implacable  hatred  will  remain,  and  nothing  but  extermi 
nation,  or  a  complete  absorption  of  the  whole  continent  into  the 
American  republic,  will  close  up  the  difficulty,  and  save  a  remnant  of 
the  Indian  tribes.  This,  to  some,  may  not  be  desirable ;  but  humanity  and 
right  should,  and  will,  eventually,  prevail  over  crime,  or  any  foreign 
policy. 

The  American  people  are  taunted  by  the  Roman  Jesuits  and  English 
with  having  driven  the  Indian  from  his  lands,  and  having  occupied  it 
themselves ;  but  how  is  it  with  the  English  ?  While  the  American  has 
attempted  to  gather  the  Indians  into  convenient  communities,  and  spent 
millions  of  dollars  to  civilize  and  better  their  condition,  the  English 
nation,  as  such,  has  never  given  one  dollar,  but  has  chartered  com 
pany  after  company  of  merchants,  traders,  and  explorers,  who  have 
entered  the  Indian  country  under  their  exclusive  charters,  or  license  to 
trade,  and  shut  it  up  from  all  others.  They  have,  in  the  profitable 
prosecution  of  their  trade,  so  managed  as  to  exterminate  all  surplus 
and  useless  Indians,  and  reduce  them  to  easy  and  profitable  control. 
Should  one  of  their  half-breed  servants,  or  a  white  man,  attempt  to 
expose  their  system,  or  speak  of  their  iniquitous  policy,  a  great  hue 
and  cry  is  raised  against  him,  both  in  England  and  America,  and  he 
must  fall,  either  by  a  misinformed  public  or  by  savage  hands,  while 
they  triumphantly  refer  to  the  ease  with  which  they  exercise  absolute 


94:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

control  over  the  Indians  in  their  jurisdiction,  as  a  reason  why  they 
should  be  permitted  to  continue  their  exclusive  occupation  and  govern 
ment  of  the  country.  Thus,  for  being  forced  partially  to  leave  that 
portion  of  Oregon  south  of  the  49th  parallel,  they  presumed  to  make 
a  claim  against  our  government  three  times  larger  than  the  whole 
capital  stock  of  the  two  companies  combined. 

This  hue  and  cry,  and  the  public  sentiment  they  have  continued  to 
raise  and  control,  has  its  double  object.  The  one  is  to  continue  their 
exclusive  possession  of,  and  trade  in  the  country,  the  other  is  to  obtain 
alt  the  money  they  can  from  the  American  government  for  the  little 
part  of  it  they  have  professedly  given  up. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  investigation  of  their  claims,  and 
the  depositions  given,  it  was  stated  that  Forts  Okanagon,  Colville, 
Kootanie,  and  Flathead,  were  still  in  their  possession  in  1866  ;  that 
Walla  walla,  Fort  Hall,  and  Boise  were  given  up  because  they  were 
prohibited  by  the  government  from  trading  ammunition  and  guns  to 
the  Indians.  This  means  simply  that  the  last-named  posts  were  too 
far  from  their  own  territory  to  enable  them  to  trade  in  these  prohibited 
articles,  and  escape  detection  by  the  American  authorities.  The 
northern  posts,  or  those  contiguous  to  the  49th  parallel,  are  still  occu 
pied  by  them.  From  these  posts  they  supply  the  Indians,  and  send 
their  emissaries  into  the  American  territory,  and  keep  up  the  "deadly 
hatred"  of  which  Mr.  Swan  speaks,  and  about  which  General  Gibbs,  in 
his  letter  explaining  the  causes  of  the  Indian  war,  is  so  much  mistaken. 

There  is  one  fact  stated  by  General  Gibbs,  showing  the  continued 
combination  of  the  Roman  priests  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
which  we  will  give  in  this  connection.  He  says  :  "  The  Yankamas  have 
always  been  opposed  to  the  intrusion  of  the  Americans."  This  is  also 
a  mistake  of  Mr.  Gibbs,  as  we  visited  that  tribe  in  the  fall  of  1839,  and 
found  them  friendly,  and  anxious  to  have  an  American  missionary 
among  them.  At  that  time  there  had  been  no  priest  among  them,  and 
no  combined  effort  of  the  company  to  get  rid  of  the  American  mission 
ary  settlements.  Kamaiyahkan,  the  very  chief  mentioned  by  General 
Gibbs  as  being  at  the  head  of  the  combination  against  the  Americans, 
accompanied  us  to  Dr.  Whitman's  station,  to  urge  the  establishment  of 
an  American  mission  among  his  people. 

General  Gibbs  says,  that,  "  as  early  as  1853,  Kamaiyahkan  had  pro 
jected  a  war  of  extermination.  Father  Pandosa,  the  priest  at 
Atahnam  (Yankama)  mission,  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  wrote  to 
Father  Mesplie,  the  one  at  the  Dalls,  desiring  him  to  inform  Major 
Alvord,  in  command  at  that  post,  of  the  fact.  Major  Alvord  reported 
it  to  General  Hitchcock,  then  in  command  on  this  coast.  Hitchcock  cen- 


INDIAN   WARS.  95 

siired  him  as  an  alarmist,  and  Pandosa  was  censured  by  his  superiors, 
who  forthwith  placed  a  priest  of  higher  rank  over  him." 

The  next  year,  Indian  agent  Bolon  was  killed,  and  the  war  com 
menced.  How  did  General  Hitchcock  learn  that  Pandosa,  a  simple- 
hearted  priest,  and  Major  Alvord  were  alarmists  ?  The  fact  of  the 
censure,  and  placing  a  priest  of  higher  rank  over  Pandosa  at  the 
Yankama  station  (the  very  place  we  selected  in  1839  for  an  American 
station),  is  conclusive  evidence  on  this  point. 

"  The  war  of  extermination,"  that  General  Gibbs,  in  his  mistaken 
ideas  of  Hudson's  Bay  policy  and  Indian  character,  attributes  to  the 
policy  of  Governor  I.  I.  Stevens,  was  commenced  in  1845.  At  that 
time,  it  was  supposed  by  James  Douglas,  Mr.  Ogden,  and  the  ruling- 
spirits  of  that  company,  that  all  they  had  to  do  was  to  withhold 
munitions  of  war  from  the  Americans,  and  the  Indians  would  do  the 
balance  for  them. 

The  Indian  wars  that  followed,  and  that  are  kept  up  and  encouraged 
along  our  borders,  and  all  over  this  coast,  are  the  legitimate  fruits  of 
the  "  DEADLY  HATRED  "  implanted  in  the  mind  and  soul  of  the  Indian 
BY  THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY  AND  THEIR  ALLIES,  THE  PRIESTS. 
There  is  an  object  in  this :  while  they  teach  the  Indians  to  believe  that 
the  Americans  are  robbing  them  of  their  lands  and  country,  they  at 
the  same  time  pretend  that  they  do  not  want  it.  • 

Like  Bishop  Blanchet  with  the  Cayuses,  they  "  only  want  a  small 
piece  of  land  to  raise  a  little  provisions  from,"  and  they  are  continually 
bringing  such  goods  as  the  Indians  want ;  and  whenever  they  are  ready 
to  join  their  forces  and  send  their  war-parties  into  American  territory, 
this  company  of  honorable  English  fur  traders  are  always  ready  to 
supply  them  with  arms  and  ammunition,  and  to  purchase  from  them 
the  goods  or  cattle  (including  scalps,  in  case  of  war  between  the  two 
nations)  they  may  capture  on  such  expeditions. 

The  more  our  government  pays  to  that  company,  or  their  fictitious 
agent,  the  more,  means  they  will  have  to  carry  on  their  opposition  to 
American  commerce  and  enterprise  on  this  coast.  Should  they  obtain 
but  one-third  of  their  outrageous  claim,  it  is  contemplated  to  invest  it, 
with  their  original  stock,  in  a  new  company,  under  the  same  name, 
Honorable  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  to  extend  their  operations  so 
as  to  embrace  not  only  the  fur,  but  gold  and  grain  trade,  over  this 
whole  western  coast. 

Will  it  be  for  the  interests  of  this  country  to  encourage  them  ?  Let 
their  conduct  and  proceeding  while  they  had  the  absolute  control  of  it 
answer,  and  prove  a  timely  warning  to  the  country  before  such  vam 
pires  are  allowed  to  fasten  themselves  upon  it. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Review  of  Mr.  Greenhow's  work  in  connection  with  the  conduct  and  policy  of  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company. — Schools  and  missionaries. — Reasons  for  giving  extracts  from 
Mr.  Greenhow's  work. — Present  necessity  for  more  knowledge  about  the  company. 

As  stated  by  General  Gibbs,  Mr.  Greenhow  has  given  us  a  complete 
history  of  the  discovery  of  Oregon.  At  the  point  where  he  leaves  us 
the  reader  will  observe  our  present  history  commences.  We  did  not 
read  Mr.  Greenhow's  very  elaborate  and  interesting  history  till  ours 
had  been  completed  in  manuscript.  On  reading  it,  we  found  abundant 
proof  of  statements  we  have  made  respecting  the  policy  of  the  British 
government  to  hold,  by  the  influence  of  her  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
the  entire  country  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  that  was  not  fully 
occupied  by  the  Russian  and  Spanish  governments. 

This  fact  alone  makes  our  history  the  more  important  and  interest 
ing  to  the  American  reader.  Mr.  Greenhow,  upon  pages  360  and  361 
of  his  work,  closes  the  labors  of  the  eleven  different  American  fur 
companies  with  the  name  of  Captain  Nathaniel  Wyeth,  and  upon  these 
two  pages  introduces  the  American  missionaries,  with  the  Roman 
Jesuits,  though  the  latter  did  not  arrive  in  the  country  till  four  years 
after  the  former. 

On  his  388th  page,  after  speaking  of  various  transactions  relative  to 
California,  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  the  proceedings  in  Congress 
relative  to  the  Oregon  country,  he  says :  "  In  the  mean  time,  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company  had  been  doing  all  in  its  power  to  extend  and 
confirm  its  position  in  the  countries  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  from 
which  its  governors  felicitated  themselves  with  the  idea  that  they  had 
expelled  the  Americans  entirely." 

Page  389.  "The  object  of  the  company  was,  therefore,  to  place  a 
large  number  of  British  subjects  in  Oregon  within  the  shortest  time, 
and,  of  course,  to  exclude  from  it  as  much  as  possible  all  people  of  the 
United  States ;  so  that  when  the  period  for  terminating  the  convention 
with  the  latter  power  should  arrive,  Great  Britain  might  be  able  to 
present  the  strongest  title  to  the  possession  of  the  whole,  on  the  ground 
of  actual  occupation  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  To  these  ends 
the  efforts  of  that  company  had  been  for  some  time  directed.  The  im 
migration  of  British  subjects  was  encouraged  ;  the  Americans  were  by 


LIQUOR   GIVEN  TO  INDIANS.  97 

all  means  excluded  ;  and  the  Indians  were  brought  as  much  as  possible 
into  friendship  with,  and  subject  to,  the  company,  while  they  were  taught 
to  regard  the  people  of  the  United  States  as  enemies!" 

In  a  work  entitled  "  Four  Years  in  British  Columbia,"  by  Commander 
R.  C.  Mayne,  R.  K,  F.  R.  G.  S.,  page  279,  this  British  writer  says: 
"  I  have  also  spoken  of  the  intense  hatred  of  them  all  for  the  Boston 
men  (Americans).  This  hatred,  although  nursed  chiefly  by  the  cruelty 
with  which  they  are  treated  by  them,  is  also  owing  in  a  great  measure 
to  the  system  adopted  by  the  Americans  of  removing  them  away  from 
their  villages  when  their  sites  become  settled  by  whites.  The  Indians 
often  express  dread  lest  we  should  adopt  the  same  course,  and  have 
lately  petitioned  Governor  Douglas  on  the  subject." 

Commander  Mayne  informs  us,  on  his  193d  page,  that  in  the  perform 
ance  of  his  official  duties  among  the  Indians,  "  recourse  to  very  strong 
expressions  was  found  necessary  ;  and  they  were  threatened  with  the 
undying  wrath  of  Mr.  Douglas,  whose  name  always  acts  as  a  talisman 
with  them." 

We  shall  have  occasion  to  quote  statements  from  members  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  from  Jesuit  priests,  further  confirming  the 
truth  of  Mr.  Greenhow's  statement  as  above  quoted.  It  would  be  grati 
fying  to  us  to  be  able,  from  our  long  personal  experience  and  observa 
tions  relative  to  the  policy  and  conduct  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
to  fully  confirm  the  very  plausible,  and,  if  true,  honorable  treatment  of 
the  aborigines  of  these  countries  ;  but  truth,  candor,  observation,  our 
own  and  other  personal  knowledge,  compel  us  to  believe  and  know  that 
Mr.  Greenhow  is  entirely  mistaken  when  he  says,  on  his  389th  page, 
speaking  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company : — 

"  In  the  treatment  of  the  aborigines  of  these  countries,  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  admirably  combined  and  reconciled  humanity  with  policy. 
In  the  first  place,  its  agents  were  strictly  prohibited  from  furnishing 
them  with  ardent  spirits ;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  pro 
hibition  has  been  carefully  enforced. 

"  Sunday,  March  11, 1852,"  says  Mr.  Dunn,  one  of  their  own  servants, 
"  Indians  remained  in  their  huts,  perhaps  praying,  or  more  likely  sing 
ing  over  the  rum  they  had  traded  with  us  on  Saturday.  *  *  Tues 
day,  April  26. — Great  many  Indians  on  board.  *  *  Traded  a  num 
ber  of  skins.  They  seem  to  like  rum  very  much.  *  *  May  4. — 
They  were  all  drunk  •  went  on  shore,  made  a  fire  about  1 1  o'clock ; 
being  then  all  drunk  began  firing  on  one  another.  *  *  June  30. — 
The  Indians  are  bringing  their  blankets — their  skins  are  all  gone ;  they 
seem  very  fond  of  rum.  *  *  July  11. — They  traded  a  quantity  of 
rum  from  us." 
7 


98  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

The  Kingston  Chronicle*  a  newspaper,  on  the  27th  of  September, 
1848,  says :  "The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  have,  in  some  instances  with 
their  rum,  traded  the  goods  given  in  presents  to  the  Indians  by  the 
Canadian  government,  and  afterward  so  traded  the  same  with  them  at 
an  advance  of  little  short  of  a  thousand  per  cent." 

Question  asked  by  the  Parliamentary  Committee  :  "  Are  intoxicating 
liquors  supplied  in  any  part  of  the  country — and  where  ?"  The  five 
witnesses  answered  : — 

1st.  "At  every  place  where  he  was." 

2d.  "All  but  the  Mandan  Indians  were  desirous  to  obtain  intoxi 
cating  liquor;  and  the  company  supply  them  with  it  freely" 

3d.  "  At  Jack  River  I  saw  liquor  given  for  furs." 

4th.  "  At  York  Factory  and  Oxford  House." 

5th.  The  fifth  witness  had  seen  liquor  given  "at  Norway  House 
only." 

The  writer  has  seen  liquor  given  and  sold  to  the  Indians  at  every 
post  of  the  company,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  to  Fort  Hall, 
including  Fort  Colville,  and  by  the  traveling  traders  of  the  company ; 
so  that  whatever  pretensions  the  company  make  to  the  contrary,  the 
proof  is  conclusive,  that  they  traffic  in  liquors,  without  any  restraint  or 
hinderance,  all  over  the  Indian  countries  they  occupy.  That  they  charge 
this  liquor  traffic  to  renegade  Americans  I  am  fully  aware ;  at  the  same 
time  I  know  they  have  supplied  it  to  Indians,  when  there  were  no 
Americans  in' the  country  that  had  any  to  sell  or  give. 

In  the  narrative  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  King,  it  is  stated  that  "  the  agents 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  are  not  satisfied  with  putting  so  insig 
nificant  value  upon  the  furs,  that  the  more  active  hunters  only  can  gain 
a  support,  which  necessarily  leads  to  the  death  of  the  more  aged  and 
infirm  by  starvation  and  cannibalism,  but  they  encourage  the  intem 
perate  use  of  ardent  spirits." 

Says  Mr.  Alexander  Simpson,  one  of  the  company's  own  chief  traders : 
"  That  body  has  assumed  much  credit  for  the  discontinuance  of  the  sale 
of  spirituous  liquors  at  its  trading  establishments,  but  I  apprehend  that 
in  this  matter  it  has  both  claimed  and  received  more  praise  than  is  its 
due.  The  issue  of  spirits  has  not  been  discontinued  by  it  on  principle, 
indeed  it  has  not  been  discontinued  at  all  when  there  is  a  possibility  of 
diminution  of  trade  through  the  Indians  having  the  power  to  resent 
this  deprivation  of  their  accustomed  and  much-loved  annual  jollifica 
tion,  by  carrying  their  furs  to  another  market." 

This  means  simply  that  Mr.  Greenhow  and  all  other  admirers  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company's  manner  of  treating  Indians  have  been  hum 
bugged  by  their  professions  of  "  humanity  and  policy" 


ME.   GREENHOWS   CRITICISM  RETURNED.  99 

We  are  inclined  to  return  Mr.  Greenhow's  compliment  to  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Parker  in  his  own  language,  as  found  on  the  361st  page  of  his 
work.  He  says :  "  Mr.  Samuel  Parker,  whose  journal  of  his  tour  beyond 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  though  highly  interesting  and  instructive,  would 
have  been  much  more  so  had  he  confined  himself  to  the  results  of  his 
own  experience,  and  not  wandered  into  the  region  of  history,  diplomacy, 
and  cosmogony,  in  all  of  which  he  is  evidently  a  stranger."  So  with  Mr. 
Greenhow,  when  he  attempts  to  reconcile  the  conduct  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  with  "  humanity"  and  admires  their  policy,  and  gives 
them  credit  for  honorable  treatment  of  "  Indians,  missionaries,  and  set 
tlers,"  he  leaves  his  legitimate  subject  of  history  and  diplomacy,  and 
goes  into  the  subject  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  moral  policy,  to 
which  he  appears  quite  as  much  a  "stranger"  as  Mr.  Samuel  Parker 
does  to  those  subjects  in  which  Mr.  Greenhow  found  him  deficient. 

But,  notwithstanding  we  are  inclined  to  return  Mr.  Greenhow's  com 
pliment  in  his  own  language,  his  historical  researches  and  facts  are 
invaluable,  as  developing  a  deep  scheme  of  a  foreign  national  grasping 
disposition,  to  hold,  by  a  low,  mean,  underhanded,  and,  as  Mr.  Green- 
how  says,  "  false  and  malicious  course  of  misrepresentation,  the  country 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains."  There  are  a  few  pages  in  Mr.  Green- 
how's  history  that, — as  ours  is  now  fully  written,  and  we  see  no  reason 
to  change  a  statement  we  have  made, — for  the  information  of  our  readers, 
and  to  correct  what  we  conceive  to  be  an  erroneous  impression  of  his 
relative  to  our  early  settlements  upon  this  coast,  we  will  quote,  and  re 
quest  our  readers  to  observe  our  corrections  in  the  history  or  narration 
of  events  we  have  given  them. 

"Schools  for  the  instruction  of  their  children,  and  hospitals  for  thei» 
sick,  were  established  at  all  their  principal  trading-posts;  each  of 
which,  moreover,  afforded  the  means  of  employment  and  support  to 
Indians  disposed  to  work  in  the  intervals  between  the  hunting  seasons." 

Says  the  Rev,  Mr.  Barnley,  a  Wesleyan  missionary  at  Moose  Fac 
tory,  whose  labors  commenced  in  June,  1840,  and  continued  till  Sep 
tember,  1847:  "A  plan  which  I  had  devised  for  educating  and  turning 
to  some  acquaintance  with  agriculture,  native  children,  was  disallowed, 
*  *  *  it  being  very  distinctly  stated  by  Sir  George  Simpson,  that 
the  company  would  not  give  them  even  a  spade  toward  commencing 
their  new  mode  of  life." 

Says  Mr.  Greenhow:  "  Missionaries  of  various  sects  were  encouraged 
to  undertake  to  convert  these  people  to  Christianity,  and  to  induce  them 
to  adopt  the  usages  of  civilized  life,  so  far  as  might  be  consistent  with 
the  nature  of  the  labors  in  which  they  are  engaged ;  care  being  at  the 
same  time  taken  to  instill  into  their  minds  due  respect  for  the  company, 


100  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

and  for  the  sovereign  of  Great  Britain ;  and  attempts  were  made,  at 
great  expense,  though  with  little  success,  to  collect  them  into  villages, 
or  tracts  where  the  soil  and  climate  are  favorable  to  agriculture." 

Mr.  Barnley  says :  "'  At  Moose  Factory,  where  the  resources  were 
most  ample,  and  where  was  the  seat  of  authority  in  the  southern  de 
partment  of  Rupert's  Land,  the  hostility  of  the  company  (and  not 
merely  their  inability  to  aid  me,  whether  with  convenience  or  incon 
venience  to  themselves)  was  most  manifest." 

Another  of  the  English  missionaries  writes  in  this  manner:  "  When 
at  York  Factory  last  fall  (1848),  a  young  gentleman  boasted  that  he 
had  succeeded  in  starting  the  Christian  Indians  of  Rossville  off  with 
the  boats  on  a  Sunday.  Thus  every  effort  we  make  for  their  moral  and 
spiritual  improvement  Is  frustrated,  and  those  who  were,  and  still  are, 
desirous  of  becoming  Christians,  are  kept  away ;  the  pagan  Indians 
desiring  to  become  Christians,  but  being  made  drunk  on  their  arrival 
at  the  fort,  '  their  good  desires  vanish.'  The  Indians  professing  Chris 
tianity  had  actually  exchanged  one  keg  of  rum  for  tea  and  sugar,  at 
one  post,  but  the  successive  offers  of  liquor  betrayed  them  into  intoxi 
cation  at  another." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Beaver,  chaplain  of  the  company  at  Fort  Vancouver, 
in  1836,  writes  thus  to  the  Aborigines  Protection  Society,  London, 
tract  8,  page  19  : — 

"  For  a  time  I  reported  to  the  governor  and  committee  of  the  com 
pany  in  England,  and  to  the  governor  and  the  council  of  the  company 
abroad,  the  result  of  my  observations,  with  a  view  to  a  gradual  ameli 
oration  of  the  wretched  degradation  with  which  I  was  surrounded,  by 
an  immediate  attempt  at  the  introduction  of  civilization  and  Christian 
ity,  among  one  or  more  of  the  aboriginal  tribes;  but  my  earnest 
representations  were  neither  attended  to  nor  acted  upon ;  no  means 
were  placed  at  my  disposal  for  carrying  out  the  plan  which  I  sug 
gested." 

Mr.  Greenhow  says,  page  389 :  "  Particular  care  was  also  extended  to 
the  education  of  the  half-breed  children,  the  offspring  of  the  marriage 
or  the  concubinage  of  the  traders  with  the  Indian  women,  who  were 
retained  and  bred  as  much  as  possible  among  the  white  people,  and 
were  taken  into  the  service  of  the  company,  whenever  they  were  found 
capable.  There  being  few  white  women  in  those  countries,  it  is  evident 
that  these  half-breeds  must,  in  time,  form  a  large,  if  not  an  important 
portion  of  the  inhabitants  ;  and  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  their  being 
adopted  and  recognized  as  British  subjects. 

"The  conduct  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  in  these  respects,  is 
worthy  of  commendation  •  and  may  be  contrasted  most  favorably  with 


A   FACT  STATED, 

that  pursued  at  the  present  day  by  civilized  people  toward  the  abo 
rigines  of  all  other  new  countries." 

It  is  a  most  singular  fact,  that  while  Mr.  Greenhow  was  writing  the 
above  high  commendation  of  the  conduct  and  policy  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  in  relation  to  their  treatment  of  Indians  and  mission, 
aries  under  their  absolute  control,  that  that  company  were  driving 
from  their  posts  at  Moose  Factory  and  Vancouver,  their  own  Wesleyan 
and  Episcopal  missionaries,  and  doing  all  they  pouict  tc-,v  prevent  r the 
settlement  or  civilization  of  the  Indians,  or  allowing  any  missionary 
intercourse  with  them,  except  by  foreign  'Romari  Jo&m/s,}  a?ict  w6r£ 
actually  combining  the  Indians  in  Oregon  to  destroy  and  defeat  civil 
and  Christian  efforts  among  the  Indians  and  American  settlements  then 
being  established  in  the  country.  Page  390,  Mr.  Greenhow  further 
says :  "  The  course  pursued  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  with  re 
gard  to  American  citizens  in  the  territory  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun 
tains,  was  equally  unexceptionable  and  politic.  The  missionaries  and 
immigrants  from  the  United  States,  or  from  whatever  country  they 
might  come,  were  received  at  the  establishments  of  the  company  with 
the  utmost  kindness,  and  were  aided  in  the  prosecution  of  their  respec 
tive  objects,  so  far  and  so  long  as  those  objects  were  not  commercial; 
but  no  sooner  did  any  person,  unconnected  with  the  company,  attempt 
to  hunt,  or  trap,  or  trade  with  the  Indians,  than  all  the  force  of  the 
body  was  turned  against  him." 

The  statement  in  the  last  part  of  the  foregoing  paragraph  can  be 
attested  by  more  than  one  hundred  American  hunters  and  traders,  who 
have  felt  the  full  force  of  that  company's  influence  against  them ;  as 
also  by  missionaries  and  settlers  on  first  arriving  in  the  country.  But 
Mr.  Greenhow  says :  "  There  is  no  evidence  or  reason  to  believe  that 
violent  measures  were  ever  employed,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  for 
this  purpose ;  nor  would  such  means  have  been  needed  while  the  com 
pany  enjoyed  advantages  over  all  competitors,  such  as  are  afforded  by 
its  wealth,  its  organization,  and  the  skill  and  knowledge  of  the  country, 
and  of  the  natives,  possessed  by  its  agents."  This  is  simply  an  assertion 
of  Mr.  Greenhow,  which  our  future  pages  will  correct  in  the  mind  of 
any  who  have  received  it  as  truth.  It  is  unnecessary  to  pursue  Mr. 
Greenhow's  history  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  respecting  their 
treatment  of  American  or  English  missionaries  or  American  settlers ; 
the  statements  we  have  quoted  show  fully  his  want  of  a  correct  knowl 
edge  of  the  practices  of  that  company  in  dealing  with  savage  and 
civilized  men.  We  only  claim  for  ourselves  close  observation  and 
deeply  interested  participation  in  all  that  relates  to  Oregon  since  1832, 
having  been  permitted  to  be  present  at  the  forming  of  its  early  civil  settle- 


102  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

ment  and  political  history.  This  work  of  Mr.  Greenhow's  appears  to  be 
peculiarly  political  as  well  as  strongly  national,  and  in  the  passages  we 
have  quoted,  with  many  other  similar  ones,  he  seems  to  us  to  have  written 
to  catch  the  patronage  of  this  foreign  English  corporation,  which,  accord 
ing  to  his  own  showing,  has  been  an  incubus  upon  the  English,  and,  so 
far  as  possible,  the  Americans  also.  While  he  shows  his  utter  ignorance 
of  their  internal  policy  and  history,  his  researches  in  the  history  of  the 
early  \d tsco veBes*  ott'  t'his  western  coast  are  ample  and  most  useful  as 
vindicating  our,  American  ^laim  to  the  country.  But  as  to  its  settle- 
meni'anGfc'diydli^tjon/otats  early  moral  or  political  history,  as  he  says 
of  Mr.  Samuel  Parker,  "  in  all  of  which  he  is  evidently  a  stranger." 

Our  reasons  for  giving  the  extracts  from  Mr.  Greenhow's  work  are — 

1st.  That  the  reader  may  the  better  understand  what  follows  as  our 
own. 

2d.  To  avoid  a  future  collision  or  controversy  respecting  statements 
that  may  be  quoted  from  him  to  contradict  or  controvert  our  own,  re 
specting  the  policy  and  practices  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
which,  Mr.  Greenhow  says,  page  391,  "did  no  more  than  they  were 
entitled  to  do.  If  the  Americans  neglected  or  were  unable  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  benefits  secured  to  both  nations  by  the  convention, 
the  fault  or  the  misfortune  was  their  own,  and  they  had  no  right  to 
complain."  If  this  is  true,  as  against  the  American,  what  right  has  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  complain  and  ask  pay  for  what  had  been 
rendered  worthless  to  them  by  the  American  settlement  of  the 
country  ? 

"The  hospitable  treatment  extended  to  them  [American  citizens] 
by  the  agents  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  doubtless  approved 
by  the  directors  of  that  body ;  and  all  who  know  Messrs.  McLaughlin 
and  Douglas,  the  principal  managers  of  the  affairs  of  that  body  on  the 
Columbia,  unite  in  testifying  that  the  humanity  and  generosity  of  those 
gentlemen  have  been  always  carried  as  far  as  their  duties  would  permit. 
That  their  conduct  does  not,  however,  meet  with  universal  approbation 
among  the  servants  of  the  company  in  that  quarter,  sufficient  evidence 
may  be  cited  to  prove."  He  quotes  John  Dunn's  book,  chap.  12. 

Mr.  Greenhow  wrote  his  history  with  the  light  then  existing,  i.  e., 
in  1844.  About  that  time  Dr.  McLaughlin  was  called  to  an  account  by 
the  directors  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  in  London.  He  explained 
to  them  his  position,  and  the  condition  of  the  Americans,  who  carne  to 
this  country  both  naked  and  hungry,  and  that,  as  a  man  of  common 
humanity,  he  could  do  no  less  than  he  did.  The  directors  insisted 
upon  the  enforcement  of  their  stringent  rule,  which  was,  to  starve  and 
drive  every  American  from  the  country.  He  then  told  them :  "If  such 


TWO  ENGLISH   PARTIES.  103 

is  your  order,  gentlemen,  I  will  serve  you  no  longer"  As  to  Mr.  Doug 
las,  we  have  no  such  noble  sentiment  to  record  in  his  behalf;  he 
belonged  to  that  English  party  called  by  Mr.  Greenhovv  "  Patriots" 
He  says :  "  There  were  two  parties  among  the  British  in  Oregon, 
the  Patriots  and  the  Liberals,  who,  while  they  agreed  in  holding  all 
Americans  in  utter  detestation,  as  knaves  and  ruffians,  yet  differed 
as  to  the  propriety  of  the  course  pursued  with  regard  to  them  by  the 
company.  The  Patriots  maintained,  that  kindness  showed  to  the  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States  was  thrown  away,  and  would  be  badly  re 
quited  ;  that  it  was  merely  nurturing  a  race  of  men,  who  would  soon 
rise  from  their  weak  and  humble  position,  as  grateful  acknowledgers  of 
favors,  to  the  bold  attitude  of  questioners  of  the  authority  of  Great 
Britain,  and  her  right,  even  to  Vancouver  itself;  that  if  any  attempts 
were  made  for  the  conversion  of  the  natives  to  Christianity,  and  to  the 
adoption  of  more  humanized  institutions  (which  they  limited  to  British 
institutions),  a  solid  and  permanent  foundation  should  be  laid ;  and  for 
that  purpose,  if  missionaries  were  to  be  introduced,  they  should  come 
within  the  direct  control  of  the  dominant  power,  that  is,  the  British 
power,  and  should  be  the  countrymen  of  those  who  actually  occupied 
Oregon,  etc.  The  Liberals,  while  admitting  all  that  was  said  on  the 
other  side,  of  the.  character  of  the  Americans,  nevertheless  charitably 
opined  that  those  people  should  not  be  excluded,  as  they  possessed  some 
claim,  '  feeble,  but  yet  existing,'  to  the  country,  and  until  '  these  were 
quashed  or  confirmed,  it  would  be  unjust  and  impolite '  to  prevent  them 
from  all  possession ;  that  these  missionaries,  though  bad,  were  better 
than  none ;  and  that  good  would  grow  out  of  evil  in  the  end,  for  the 
Americans,  by  their  intercourse  with  the  British,  would  become  more 
humanized,  tolerant,  and  honest" 

As  most  of  the  above  sentiment  relative  to  the  two  English  parties  in 
the  country  appears  to  be  quoted  by  Mr.  Greenhow  from  some  author, 
it  would  be  interesting  to  know  who  he  is ;  still,  the  fact  is  all  that  is 
essential  to  know,  and  we  have  reason  to  believe  and  know  that  the 
sentiments  expressed  were  entertained  by  the  controlling  authority  of 
the  company  in  London  and  in  Oregon  ;  and  that  Messrs.  Douglas  and 
Ogden,  and  the  Roman  priests  under  their  patronage,  acted  fully  up  to 
them  as  Roman  and  British  Jesuits,  there  is  no  question ;  and  under 
such  circumstances,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  immigration  from  the 
United  States  in  1843,  '44,  and  '45,  should  increase  that  feeling  of  hos 
tility  and  hatred  of  the  American  settlement  and  civilization  in  the 
country. 

We  do  not  propose  at  present  to  speak  of  the  action  of  the  American 
Congress  relative  to  Oregon,  but,  as  will  be  seen,  to  connect  and  bring 


104:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

into  our  own  history  such  allusions  of  Mr.  Greenhow  as  serve  to  illus 
trate  and  prove  the  several  propositions  we  have  stated  respecting  the 
early  history  of  its  settlement,  and  also  to  prepare  the  reader  to  under 
stand  in  a  manner  the  combined  influences  that  were  ready  to  contest 
any  claim  or  effort  any  American  company  or  citizen  might  make  for 
the  future  occupation  of  the  country. 

It  will  be  seen  that  no  company  of  settlers  or  traders  could  have 
succeeded,  having  arrived  in  advance  of  the  American  missionaries. 
They  were  unquestionably  the  only  nucleus  around  which  a  permanent 
settlement  could  have  been  formed,  eleven  different  American  fur 
companies  having  commenced  and  failed,  as  will  be  shown ;  and 
although  Mr.  Greenhow  seems  to  regard  and  treat  the  American  mis 
sionary  effort  with  contempt,  yet  impartial  history  will  place  them  in 
•the  foreground,  and  award  to  them  an  honorable  place  in  counteracting 
foreign  influences  and  saving  the  country  to  its  rightful  owners. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  preliminary  and  following  remarks  and  nar 
rative  of  events,  and  by  a  careful  study  of  all  the  histories  and  journals 
to  which  we  have  had  occasion  to  refer,  or  from  which  we  have  quoted 
a  statement,  that  the  forming,  civilizing,  and  political  period  in  our 
Oregon  history  is  all  a  blank,  except  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
were  the  patron  saints,  the  noble  and -generous  preservers  of  the 
"  knaves"  and  "ruffians"  that  came  to  this  country  to  rob  them  of 
their  pious  and  humane  labors  to  civilize  their  accomplished  native 
"concubines."  That,  according  to  their  ideas,  the  missionaries,  such 
as  came  from  the  United  States, "  though  bad"  could  become  "  human 
ized,  tolerant"  and  even  "  honest"  by  associating  with  such  noble, 
generous,  tolerant,  virtuous,  and  pure-minded  traders  as  controlled  the 
affairs  of  that  company,  under  the  faithfully-executed  and  stringent 
rules  of  the  honorable  directors  in  London. 

At  the  present  time  there  is  an  additional  important  reason  for  a 
better  understanding  and  a  more  thorough  knowledge  of  the  influences 
and  operations  of  this  British  monopoly  than  formerly.  Notwith 
standing  they  have  been  driven  from  Oregon  by  its  American  settle 
ment,  they  have  retired  to  British  Columbia,  and,  like  barnacles  upon 
a  ship's  bottom,  have  fastened  themselves  all  along  the  Russian  and 
American  territories,  to  repeat  just  what  they  did  in  Oregon ;  and, 
with  the  savage  hordes  with  whom  they  have  always  freely  mingled, 
they  will  repeat  their  depredations  upon  our  American  settlements, 
and  defeat  every  effort  to  civilize  or  Christianize  the  natives  over  whom 
they  have  any  influence. 

Six  generations  of  natives  have  passed  away  under  their  system 
of  trade  and  civilization.  The  French,  English,  and  Indians  before 


COST   OF  INDIAN   WARS.  105 

our  American  revolution  and  independence  could  not  harmonize. 
The  French  were  driven  from  their  American  possessions  and  control 
over  the  Indians,  and  peace  followed.  The  Indians,  English,  and 
Americans  can  not  harmonize ;  they  never  have,  and  they  never  will ; 
hence,  it  becomes  a  question  of  vast  moment,  not  only  to  the  Indian 
race,  but  to  the  American  people,  as  to  the  propriety  and  expediency 
of  allowing  the  English  nation  or  British  or  foreign  subjects  to  fur 
ther  exercise  any  influence  among  our  American  Indians. 

Mr.  A.  H.  Jackson  estimates  the  expense  of  our  Indian  wars,  since 
1831  to  the  present  time,  at  one  thousand  millions  of  dollars  and 
thirty-seven  thousand  lives  of  our  citizens,  not  counting  the  lives  of 
Indians  destroyed  by  our  American  wars  with  them.  If  the  reader 
will  carefully  read  and  candidly  judge  of  the  historical  facts  presented 
in  the  following  pages,  we  have  no  fears  but  they  will  join  us  in  our 
conclusions,  that  the  Monroe  doctrine  is  irrevocably  and  of  necessity 
fixed  in  our  American  existence  as  a  nation  at  peace  with  all,  which 
we  can  not  have  so  long  as  any  foreign  sectarian  or  political  organiza 
tions  are  permitted  to  have  a  controlling  influence  over  savage  minds. 
A  Frenchman,  an  Englishman,  a  Mormon,  a  Roman  priest,  any  one,  or 
all  of  them,  fraternizing  as  they  do  with  the  Indian,  can  work  upon  his 
prejudices  and  superstitions  and  involve  our  country  in  an  Indian  war 
— which  secures  the  Indian  trade  to  the  British  fur  company.  This  is 
the  great  object  sought  to  be  accomplished  in  nearly  all  the  wars  our 
government  has  had  with  them. 

One  other  remarkable  fact  is  noted  in  all  our  Indian  wars,  the' 
American  or  Protestant  missionaries  have  been  invariably  driven  from 
among  those  tribes,  while  the  Roman  Jesuit  missionaries  have  been 
protected  and  continued  among  the  Indians,  aiding  and  counseling  them 
in  the  continuance  of  those  wars.  It  is  no  new  thing  that  ignorance, 
superstition,  and  sectarian  hate  has  produced  such  results  upon  the 
savage  mind,  and  our  Oregon  history  shows  that  a  shrewd  British  fur 
company  can  duly  appreciate  and  make  use  of  just  such  influences  to 
promote  and  perpetuate  their  trade  on  the  American  continent. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Occupants  of  the  country. — Danger  to  outsiders. — Description  of  missionaries. 

IN  1832,  this  entire  country,  from  the  Russian  settlement  on  the  north 
to  the  gulf  of  California  on  the  south,  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the  east 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean  on  the  west,  was  under  the  absolute  and  undis 
puted  control  of  the  Honorable  Hudson's  Bay  Company ;  and  the  said 
company  claimed  and  exercised  exclusive  civil,  religious,  political,  and 
commercial  jurisdiction  over  all  this  vast  country,  leaving  a  narrow 
strip  of  neutral  territory  between  the  United  States  and  their  assumed 
possessions,  lying  between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  western 
borders  of  Missouri.  Its  inhabitants  were  gentlemen  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company, — their  clerks,  traders,  and  servants, — consisting  mostly 
of  Canadian-French,  half-breeds,  and  natives. 

Occasionally,  when  a  venturesome  Yankee  ship  or  fur  trader  entered 
any  of  the  ports  of  the  afore.said  country  for  trade,  exploration,  or  settle 
ment,  this  honorable  company  asserted  its  licensed  and  exclusive  right 
to  drive  said  vessel,  trader,  explorer,  or  settler  from  it.  Should  he  be 
so  bold  as  to  venture  to  pass  the  trained  bands  of  the  wild  savages  of 
the  mountains,  or,  even  by  accident,  reach  the  sacred  trading-ground 
of  this  company,  he  was  helped  to  a  passage  out  of  it,  or  allowed  to 
perish  by  the  hand  of  any  savage  who  saw  fit  to  punish  him  for  his 
temerity. 

While  this  exclusive  jurisdiction  was  claimed  and  exercised  by  the 
company,  four  wild,  untutored  Indians  of  the  Flathead  tribe  learned 
from  an  American  trapper,  who  had  strayed  into  their  country,  that 
there  was  a  Supreme  Being,  worthy  of  worship,  and  that,  by  going  to 
his  country,  they  could  learn  all  about  him.  Four  of  these  sons  of  the 
wilderness  found  their  way  to  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  in  1832.  Mr.  Catlin, 
a  celebrated  naturalist  and  artist,  I  believe  not  a  member  of  any  reli 
gious  sect,  learned  the  object  that  had  brought  these  red  men  from  the 
mountains  of  Oregon,  and  gave  the  fact  to  the  religious  public. 

This  little  incident,  though  small  in  itself,  resulted  in  the  organiza 
tion,  in  1833,  of  the  Missionary  Board  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
the  appointment  of  Rev.  Jason  Lee  and  associates,  to  the  establishment 
of  the  Methodist  Mission  in  the  Wallamet  Valley  in  1834,  the  appoint 
ment  of  Rev.  Samuel  Parker  and  Dr.  Marcus  Whitman,  by  the  Aineri- 


KEY.   J.   LEE   AND   ASSOCIATES.  107 

can  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  to  explore  the 
country  in  1835,  and  the  establishment  of  a  mission  by  said  Board  in 
1836. 

Rev.  Jason  Lee,  of  Stansted,  Canada  East,  a  man  of  light  hair,  blue 
eyes,  fair  complexion,  spare  habit,  above  ordinary  height,  a  little  stoop- 
shouldered,  with  strong  nerve  and  indomitable  will,  yet  a  meek,  warm 
hearted,  and  humble  Christian,  gaining  by  his  affable  and  easy  manners 
the  esteem  of  all  who  became  acquainted  with  him,  was  the  first  to 
volunteer. 

Rev.  Daniel  Lee,  a  nephew  of  Jason,  was  the  second ; — the  opposite 
of  the  former  in  every  particular — of  medium  height.  The  general 
impression  of  outsiders  was,  that  his  moral  qualities  were  not  of  the 
highest  order,  yet  it  is  not  known  that  any  specific  charges  were  ever 
brought  against  him. 

Cyrus  Shepard,  a  lay  member,  was  a  devoted  Christian,  and  a  faithful 
laborer  for  the  advancement  of  the  objects  of  the  mission  and  the  gen 
eral  welfare  of  all  in  the  country.  We  have  never  learned  that  he  had  an 
enemy  or  a  slanderer  while  he  lived  in  it.  On  his  first  arrival  he 
taught  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  school  at  Vancouver,  consisting 
of  children  belonging  to  persons  in  the  employ  of  the  company,  till  the 
mission  buildings  were  ready,  when  he  gathered  a  large  school  of  In 
dian  and  French  half-breed  children,  and  was  quite  successful  in  teach 
ing  the  rudiments  of  an  English  education.  Rev.  D.  Lee  and  Mr. 
Shepard  were  from  New  England. 

Mr.  P.  L.  Edwards,  of  Missouri,  also  a  lay  member,  was  of  the  com 
pany.  But  little  is  known  of  him ;  the  inducements  to  become  a  per 
manent  settler  in  the  country  do  not  appear  in  his  case. 

Rev.  Samuel  Parker,  of  Ithaca,  New  York,  a  man  of  good  education 
and  refinement,  and  exceedingly  set  in  his  opinions  and  conclusions  of 
men  and  things,  came  to  explore  the  country,  and  report  to  the  Ameri 
can  Board  as  to  the  feasibility  of  establishing  missions  among  the  In 
dians,  one  of  the  missionaries  of  the  American  Board,  from  the  Sand 
wich  Islands,  having  visited  the  coast  in  an  American  ship,  several  years 
previous,  and  made  an  unfavorable  report  on  account  of  the  fur-trade 
influence  against  American  traders,  giving  the  impression  that  Ameri 
can  missionaries  would  not  be  tolerated  in  the  country. 

Mr.  Parker  was  inclined  to  self-applause,  requiring  his  full  share  of 
ministerial  approbation  or  respect,  though  not  fully  qualified  to  draw 
it  cheerfully  from  an  audience  or  his  listeners ;  was  rather  fastidious. 

Dr.  Marcus  Whitman,  of  Rushville,  New  York,  sent  in  company 
with  Mr.  Parker  to  explore  the  country.  A  man  of  easy,  dorft-care 
habits,  that  could  become  all  things  to  all  men,  and  yet  a  sincere  and 


108  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

earnest  man,  speaking  his  mind  before  he  thought  the  second  time, 
giving  his  views  on  all  subjects  without  much  consideration,  correcting 
and  changing  them  when  good  reasons  were  presented,  yet,  when  fixed 
in  the  pursuit  of  an  object,  adhering  to  it  with  unflinching  tenacity. 
A  stranger  would  consider  him  fickle  and  stubborn,  yet  he  was  sincere 
and  kind,  and  generous  to  a  fault,  devoting  every  energy  of  his  mind 
and  body  to  the  welfare  of  the  Indians,  and  objects  of  the  mission  ; 
seldom  manifesting  fears  of  any  danger  that  might  surround  him,  at 
times  he  would  become  animated  and  earnest  in  his  argument  or  con 
versation.  In  his  profession  he  was  a  bold  practitioner,  and  generally 
successful.  He  was  above  medium  height ;  of  spare  habit ;  peculiar 
hair,  a  portion  of  each  being  white  and  a  dark  brown,  so  that  it  might 
be  called  iron-gray ;  deep  blue  eyes,  and  large  mouth. 

The  peculiarities  of  Messrs.  Parker  and  Whitman  were  such,  that, 
when  they  had  reached  the  rendezvous  on  Green  River,  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  they  agreed  to  separate ;  not  because  Dr.  Whitman  was  not 
willing  and  anxious  to  continue  the  exploring  expedition,  in  company 
with  Mr.  Parker,  but  because  Mr.  P.  could  not  "put  up"  with  the  ofF- 
hand,  careless,  and,  as  he  thought,  slovenly  manner  in  which  Dr.  Whit 
man  was  inclined  to  travel.  Dr.  W.  was  a  man  that  could  accommo 
date  himself  to  circumstances ;  such  as  dipping  the  water  from  the 
running  stream  with  his  hand,  to  drink ;  having  but  a  hunter's  knife 
(without  a  fork)  to  cut  and  eat  his  food ;  in  short,  could  rough  it 
without  qualms  of  stomach. 

Rev.  Mr.  Parker  had  left  a  refined  family  circle,  and  his  habits  had 
become  somewhat  delicate  from  age  and  long  usage  in  comfortable  and 
agreeable  society ;  hence  his  peculiar  habits  were  not  adapted  to 
Rocky  Mountain  travel  in  those  early  days.  Still,  the  great  object  on 
which  they  were  sent  must  not  be  lost  sight  of.  Their  sense  of  moral 
obligation  was  such,  that  a  reason  must  be  given  why  Dr.  Whitman 
returns  to  the  States,  and  Mr.  Parker  proceeds  alone  on  his  perilous 
journey  to  this  then  unknown  country.  Here  again  the  wild  Indian 
comes  in,  by  instinct,  order,  or  providence  (as  the  unbeliever  may 
choose  to  call  it),  and  offers  to  take  charge  of  this  delicate  old  gentle 
man,  and  carries  him  in  triumph  through  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  all 
through  his  country,  and,  in  Indian  pomp  and  splendor,  delivers  this 
rev.  "  black  coat"  to  P.  C.  Pambrun,  Esq.,  chief  clerk  of  the  Honorable 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  at  old  Fort  Wallawalla,  supplying  his  every 
want  on  the  journey,  caring  for  his  horses  and  baggage,  not  asking  or 
receiving  any  thing,  except  such  presents  as  Mr.  Parker  chose  to  give 
them  on  the  way  and  at  parting. 

Dr.  Whitman,  it  will   be   remembered,   was   associated   with  Mr. 


MR.  PARKER  WITH  THE  INDIANS.  109 

Parker,  under  the  direction  of  the  American  Board.  They  had  arrived 
at  the  rendezvous  in  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  most  of  the  Nez  Perces 
were  at  the  American  rendezvous.  Ish-hol-hol-hoats-hoats,  a  young  Nez 
Perce  Indian  (named  by  the  American  trappers,  Lawyer,  on  account 
of  his  shrewdness  in  argument,  and  his  unflinching  defense  of  American 
against  British  and  foreign  influences),  having  learned  of  their  arrival, 
came  to  them  and  settled  matters  quite  satisfactorily  to  both,  by 
requesting  Mr.  Parker  to  go  with  them  to  their  country,  they  having 
heard  of  Rev.  Mr.  Lee  and  party  going  to  settle  near  the  husus- 
hai-hai  (White  Head),  as  the  natives  called  Dr.  John  McLaughlin,  in 
the  Wallamet  Valley.  They  consented  to  let  the  Doctor  take  two  of 
their  boys.  To  Ites  he  gave  the  name  of  John ;  Tuetakas  he  called 
Richard.  Dr.  Whitman  was  to  go  to  the  States,  report  to  the  American 
Board,  and  procure  associates  and  the  material  to  establish  a  mission 
in  the  Nez  Perce  country. 

The  Nez  Perces  were  to  take  charge  of  Mr.  Parker,  and  carry  him 
forward  in  his  explorations,  and  meet  Dr.  W.,  on  his  return  next 
year,  at  the  place  of  rendezvous  in  the  mountains,  to  conduct  him  and 
his  party  to  the  place  Mr.  Parker  might  select  for  a  mission  establish 
ment.  Rev.  S.  Parker,  in  company  with  the  Indians,  went  on,  and  Dr. 
Whitman,  with  his  two  Indian  boys,  with  the  American  Fur  Company, 
Capts.  Fitzpatrick,  Bridger,  and  others,  started  on  their  way  to  the 
States,  or  "  home  from  the  Rocky  Mountains."  Dr.  Whitman,  by  his 
off-hand,  easy  manner  of  accommodating  himself  to  circumstances,  and 
by  his  kind-heartedness  and  promptness  to  relieve  all  who  needed  his 
professional  skill,  had  won  the  esteem  of  all  with  whom  he  traveled, 
so  that  the  gentlemen  of  the  American  Fur  Company  cheerfully  sup 
plied  his  wants  on  his  return  trip  to  the  States,  where  he  arrived  in 
due  time,  made  his  report  to  the  American  Board,  who  decided  to 
establish  the  mission,  as  per  arrangement  with  Parker  and  Whitman, 
on  separating  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Mrs.  Whitman,  formerly  Miss  Narcissa  Prentiss,  of  Prattsburg,  Steu- 
ben  County,  New  York,  was  a  lady  of  refined  feelings  and  commanding 
appearance.  She  had  very  light  hair,  light,  fresh  complexion,  and  light 
blue  eyes.  Her  features  were  large,  her  form  full  and  round.  At  the 
time  she  arrived  in  the  country,  in  the  prime  of  life,  she  was  con- 
sideredj  a  fine,  noble-looking  woman,  affable  and  free  to  converse 
with  all  she  met.  Her  conversation  was  animated  and  cheerful. 
Firmness  in  her  was  natural,  and  to  some,  especially  the  Indians,  it 
was  repulsive.  She  had  been  brought  up  in  comparative  comfort,  and 
moved  in  the  best  of  religious  society  in  the  place  of  her  residence. 
She  was  a  good  singer,  and  one  of  her  amusements,  as  well  as  that  of 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

her  traveling  companions,  was  to  teach  the  Doctor  to  sing,  which  she 
did  with  considerable  success, — that  is,  he  could  sing  the  native  songs 
without  much  difficulty. 

The  American  Board  appointed  Rev.  H.  H.  Spalding  and  wife  to 
accompany  Dr.  Whitman  and  wife,  to  aid  in  establishing  the  Nez  Perce 
mission.  Mr.  Spalding  and  wife  had  just  completed  their  preparatory 
course  of  education  in  Lane  Seminary,  near  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

The  first  impression  of  the  stranger  on  seeing  H.  H.  Spalding  is,  that  he 
has  before  him  an  unusual  countenance.  He  begins  to  examine,  and  finds 
a  man  with  sharp  features,  large,  brown  eyes,  dark  hair,  high,  projecting 
forehead,  with  many  wrinkles,  and  a  head  nearly  bald.  He  is  of  medium 
size,  stoop-shouldered,  with  a  voice  that  can  assume  a  mild,  sharp,  or 
boisterous  key,  at  the  will  of  its  oVner ;  quite  impulsive,  and  bitter  in 
his  denunciations  of  a  real,  or  supposed  enemy ;  inclined  in  the  early 
part  of  his  missionary  labors  to  accumulate  property  for  the  especial 
benefit  of  his  family,  though  the  practice  was  disapproved  of  and- for 
bidden  by  the  regulations  of  the  American  Board.  In  his  professional 
character  he  was  below  mediocrity.  As  a  writer  or  correspondent  he 
was  bold,  and  rather  eloquent,  giving  overdrawn  life-sketches  of  passing 
events.  His  moral  influence  was  injured  by  strong  symptoms  of 
passion,  when  provoked  or  excited.  In  his  labors  for  the  Indians,  he 
was  zealous  and  persevering,  in  his  preaching  or  talking  to  them,  plain 
and  severe,  and  in  his  instructions  wholly  practical.  For  instance,  to 
induce  the  natives  to  work  and  cultivate  their  lands,  he  had  Mrs. 
Spalding  paint  a  representation  of  Adam  and  Eve,  as  being  driven  from 
the  garden  of  Eden  by  an  angel, — Adam  with  a  hoe  on  his  shoulder, 
and  Eve  with  her  spinning-wheel.  He  taught  the  natives  that  God 
commanded  them  to  work,  as  well  as  pray.  Had  he  been  allowed  to 
continue  his  labors  with  the  tribe,  undisturbed  by  sectarian  and  anti- 
religious  influences,  he  would  have  effected  great  good,  and  the  tribe 
been  now  admitted  as  citizens  of  the  United  States.  As  a  citizen  and 
neighbor  he  was  kind  and  obliging;  to  his  family  he  was  kind,  yet 
severe  in  his  religious  observances.  He  was  unquestionably  a  sincere, 
though  not  always  humble,  Christian.  The  loss  of  his  wife,  and  the 
exciting  and  savage  massacre  of  his  associates,  produced  their 
effect  upon  him.  Charity  will  find  a  substantial  excuse  for  most  of  his 
faults,  while  virtue  and  truth,  civilization  and  religion,  will  a*rard  him 
a  place  as  a  faithful,  zealous,  and  comparatively  successful  missionary. 

Mrs.  Spalding  was  the  daughter  of  a  plain,  substantial  farmer,  by  the 
name  of  Hart,  of  Oneida  County,  New  York.  She  was  above  the 
medium  height,  slender  in  form,  with  coarse  features,  dark  brown  hair, 
blue  eyes,  rather  dark  complexion,  coarse  voice,  of  a  serious  turn  of 


MRS.  SPALDING-  AND   MRS.  WHITMAN".  m 

mind,  and  quick  in  understanding  language.  In  fact  she  was  remarka 
ble  in  acquiring  the  Nez  Perce  language,  so  as  to  understand  and  con 
verse  with  the  natives  quite  easily  by  the  time  they  reached  their  sta 
tion  at  Lapwai.  She  could  paint  indifferently  in  water-colors,  and  had 
•been  taught,  while  young,  all  the  useful  branches  of  domestic  life ;  could 
spin,  weave,  and  sew,  etc. ;  could  prepare  an  excellent  meal  at  short 
notice  ;  was  generally  sociable,  but  not  forward  in  conversation  with  or 
in  attentions  to  gentlemen.  In  this  particular  she  was  the  opposite  of 
Mrs.  Whitman.  With  the  native  women  Mrs.  Spalding  always  ap 
peared  easy  and  cheerful,  and  had  their  unbounded  confidence  and 
respect.  She  was  remarkable  for  her  firmness  and  decision  of  character 
in  whatever  she  or  her  husband  undertook.  She  never  appeared  to  be 
alarmed  or  excited  at  any  difficulty,  dispute,  or  alarms  common  to  the 
Indian  life  around  her.  She  was  considered  by  the  Indian  men  as  a 
brave,  fearless  woman,  and  was  respected  and  esteemed  by  all.  Though 
she  was  frequently  left  for  days  alone,  her  husband  being  absent  on 
business,  but  a  single  attempted  insult  was  ever  offered  her.  Understand 
ing  their  language,  her  cool,  quick  perception  of  the  design  enabled 
her  to  give  so  complete  and  thorough  a  rebuff  to  the  attempted  insult, 
that,  to  hide  his  disgrace,  the  Indian  offering  it  fled  from  the  tribe,  not 
venturing  to  remain  among  them.  In  fact,  a  majority  of  the  tribe 
were  in  favor  of  hanging  the  Indian  who  offered  the  insult,  but  Mrs. 
Spalding  requested  that  they  would  allow  him  to  live,  that  he  might 
repent  of  his  evil  designs  and  do  better  in  future.  In  this  short  sketch 
of  Mrs.  Spalding  the  reader  is  carried  through  a  series  of  years.  We 
shall  have  occasion,  as  we  progress  in  our  sketches,  to  refer  to  these 
two  ladies.  They  are  not  fictitious  characters, — they  lived ;  came  over 
the  Rocky  Mountains  in  1836  ;  they  are  dead  and  buried,  Mrs.  Spald 
ing  near  the  Callapooya,  in  the  Wallamet  Valley.  Mrs.  Whitman's 
remains,  such  portions  of  them  as  could  be  found,  are  buried  not  far 
from  the  place  of  her  labors  among  the  Cayuses.  The  last  time  we 
passed  the  ground  not  even  a  common  board  marked  the  place.  We 
noticed  a  hollow  in  the  ground,  said  to  be  the  place  where  the  very 
Rev.  Mr.  Brouillet,  vicar-general  of  Wallawalla,  says  "the  bodies 
were  all  deposited  in  a  common  grave  which  had  been  dug  the  day  pre 
vious  by  Joseph  Stanfield,  and,  before  leaving,  I  saw  that  they  were 
covered  with  earth,  but  I  have  since  learned  that  the  graves,  not  hav 
ing  been  soon  enough  inclosed,  had  been  molested  by  the  wolves,  and 
that  some  of  the  corpses  had  been  devoured  by  them."  Bear  this 
statement  in  mind,  reader,  as  we  proceed.  We  will  tell  you  just  how 
much  he  knows  of  the  why  and  wherefore  such  things  occurred  in  those 
early  times.  A  part  of  the  facts  are  already  in  history. 


112  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Messrs.  Whitman  and  Spalding,  with  their  wives,  and  a  reinforcement 
for  the  Pawnee  mission,  made  their  way  to  Liberty  Landing,  on  the 
Missouri  River.  At  that  place  they  were  joined  by  a  young  man  by 
the  name  of  W.  H.  Gray,  from  Utica,  New  York,  who  was  solicited  by 
the  agents  of  the  American  Board  to  join  this  expedition  as  its  secular 
agent. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Missionary  outfit. — On  the  way. — No  roads. — An  English  nobleman. — A  wagon  taken 
along. — Health  of  Mrs.  Spalding. — Meeting  mountain  men  and  Indians. — A  feast 
to  the  Indians. 

THE  mission  party  had  brought  with  them  a  full  supply  of  all  the  sup 
posed  et  cceteras  for  a  life  and  residence  two  thousand  miles  from  any 
possible  chance  to  renew  those  supplies  when  exhausted,  having  the 
material  for  a  blacksmith  shop,  a  plow,  and  all  sorts  of  seeds,  clothing, 
etc.,  to  last  for  two  years.  Gray  found  his  hands  full  in  making  calcu 
lations  for  the  transportation  of  this  large  amount  of  baggage,  or 
goods,  as  the  trader  would  say.  In  a  few  days  wagons,  teams,  pack- 
mules,  horses,  and  cows,  were  all  purchased  in  the  county  of  Liberty, 
Missouri,  the  goods  all  overhauled,  repacked,  loaded  into  the  two  mis 
sion  wagons,  and  an  extra  team  hired  to  go  as  far  as  Fort  Leaven- 
worth.  Spalding  and  Gray  started  with  the  train,  three  jvagons,  eight 
mules,  twelve  horses,  and  sixteen  cows,  two  men,  two  Indian  boys,  and 
the  man  with  the  extra  team.  Dr.  Whitman,  having  the  ladies  in 
charge,  was  to  come  up  the  Missouri  River  in  the  first  boat,  and  await 
the  arrival  of  the  train  having  the  greater  portion  of  the  goods  with 
it.  Boats  on  the  Missouri  River  not  being  so  numerous  as  at  the  pres 
ent  time,  the  Doctor  and  party  did  not  reach  Leavenworth  till  the 
train  had  arrived.  They  rearranged  their  goods,  discharged  the  extra 
team,  held  a  consultation,  and  concluded  that  the  Doctor  and  ladies 
would  keep  the  boat  to  Council  Bluffs,  the  point  from  which  the  Ameri 
can  Fur  Company's  caravan  was  to  start  that  year.  Learning  that  the 
company  was  to  start  in  six  days,  the  conclusion  was  that  the  cattle 
and  goods  had  better  proceed  as  fast  as  possible. 

The  third  day,  in  the  morning,  some  forty  miles  from  Fort  Leaven- 
worth,  as  we  were  about  starting,  a  white  boy,  about  sixteen  years  old, 
came  into  camp,  having  on  an  old  torn  straw  hat,  an  old  ragged  fus 
tian  coat,  scarcely  half  a  shirt,  with  buckskin  pants,  badly  worn,  but 
one  moccasin,  a  powder-horn  with  no  powder  in  it,  and  an  old  rifle. 
He  had  light  flaxen  hair,  light  blue  eyes,  was  thin  and  spare,  yet 
appeared  in  good  health  and  spirits.  He  said  he  had  started  for  the 
Rocky  Mountains ;  he  was  from  some  place  in  Iowa ;  he  had  been 
without  food  for  two  days ;  he  asked  for  some  ammunition ;  thought 
8 


114  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

he  could  kill  some  game  to  get  along ;  the  rain  the  night  previous  had 
wet  him  quite  effectually ;  he  was  really  coldj  wet,  nearly  naked,  and 
hungry.  lie  was  soon  supplied  from  our  stores  with  all  he  wanted, 
and  advised  to  return  to  his  friends  in  Iowa.  To  this  he  objected,  and 
said  if  we  would  allow  him  he  would  go  with  us  to  Council  Bluffs, 
and  then  go  with  the  fur  company  to  the  mountains.  He  agreed  to 
assist  all  he  could  in  getting  along.  He  was  furnished  a  horse,  and 
made  an  excellent  hand  while  he  remained  with  the  party,  which  he 
did  till  he  reached  Fort  Hall,  on  Snake  River.  There  he  joined  a 
party  that  went  with  the  Bannock  Indians,  and  became  a  member  of 
that  tribe,  and,  as  near  as  we  can  learn,  married  a  native  woman  (some 
say  three),  and  is  using  his  influence  to  keep  the  tribe  at  war  with  the 
United  States.  Of  this  we  have  no  positive  knowledge,  though  if  such 
is  the  fact  he  may  have  been  a  deserter  from  Fort  Lcavenworth.  His 
name  was  Miles  Goodyear. 

Within  thirty  miles  of  Council  Bluffs  a  messenger  overtook  the  mis 
sionary  caravan,  and  stated  that  Mrs.  Satterley,  of  the  Pawnee  mission, 
was  dead ;  that  Dr.  Whitman  and  ladies  were  left  at  Fort'  Leaven- 
worth  ;  that  they  were  coming  on  as  fast  as  possible,  with  extra  teams, 
to  overtake  us.  Our  party  went  into  camp  at  once;  the  two  wagons 
with  horse  teanjis  started  back  to  meet  and  bring  up  the  balance  of  the 
party;  wait  two  days  at  Omaha;  fix  one  of  the  wagon  boxes  for  a 
ferry-boat;  Doctor  and  party  arrive  ;  cross  all  safe  ;  get  to  camp  late 
in  the  night.  There  was  a  slight  jar  in  the  feelings  of  some  on  account 
of  haste,  and  slowness  of  movement,  in  others.  However,  as  the  fur 
company,  with  whom  the  mission  party  was  to  travel,  was  to  start  on 
a  certain  day,  haste  was  absolutely  necessary,  and  no  time  to  be  lost. 
Useless  baggage  overhauled  and  thrown  away,  cows  started,  mules 
and  wagons  loaded  ;  Gray  in  charge  of  mules  and  cows,  Spalding 
driver  for  a  two-horse  light  wagon,  Whitman  the  four-horse  farm 
wagon.  On  goes  the  caravan  ;  in  two  hours  a  message  goes  forward 
to  Gray  that  Spalding  has  driven  his  wagon  into  a  mud  stream  and 
broken  his  axletree ;  Gray  goes  back;  soon  repairs  axletree  by  a  new 
one;  on  Platte  River;  rains  as  it  only  can  on  that  river,  cold  and 
almost  sleet ;  nothing  but  a  skin  boat,  that  could  carry  but  two  trunks 
and  one  lady  at  a  time  ;  all  day  swimming  by  the  side  of  the  boat  to 
get  goods  over ;  swim  cattle,  mules,  and  horses  all  over  safe  to  north 
side. 

Overhaul  and  lighten  our  baggage;  Rev.  Mr.  Dunbar  for  pilot,  three 
men,  and  two  Indian  boys,  we  hasten  on  to  overtake  fur  company's 
caravan.  Second  day,  met  one  hundred  Pawnee  warriors  on  their  way 
to  Council  Bluff  agency.  Mr.  Dunbar  being  the  missionary  of  the 


NO    ROADS. 

Pawnees,  and  understanding  their  language,  we  had  no  difficulty  with 
them.  Traveling  early  and  late,  we  came  up  to  the  fur  company  at 
the  Pawnee  village,  some  two  hours  after  their  caravan  had  arrived 
and  camped. 

At  this  point  the  missionary  menagerie  was  first  exhibited,  not  that 
they  attempted  to  make  any  display,  or  posted  any  handbills,  or 
charged  any  fee  for  exhibiting,  but  the  strange  appearance  of  two 
white  ladies  in  a  caravan  consisting  of  rough  American  hunters,  Cana 
dian  packers  with  Indian  women,  with  all  the  paraphernalia  of  a  wild 
mountain  expedition,  drew  the  attention  of  all.  The  mission  party 
had  with  them,  some  fine  cows,  good  horses  and  mules,  and  were  toler 
ably  well  fitted  out  for  their  expedition,  except  a  superabundance  of 
useless  tilings,  causing  much  perplexity  and  hard  labor  to  transport 
over  the  rough  plains  in  1836. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  at  that  early  time  there  was  no  road, — 
not  even  a  trail  or  track,  except  that  of  the  buffalo;  and  those  made  by 
them  were  invariably  from  the  river,  or  watering-places,  into  the  hills 
or  bluffs.  Their  trails  being  generally  deep,  from  long  use  by  the  animal, 
made  it  quite  severe  and  straining  upon  our  teams,  wagons,  and  the 
nineteen  carts  the  fur  company  carried  their  goods  in  that  year.  The 
caravan  altogether  consisted  of  nineteen  carts,  with  two  mules  to  each, 
one  in  the  shafts  and  one  ahead,  one  light  Dearborn  wagon,  two  mules 
and  two  wagons  belonging  to  an  English  nobleman,  his  titles  all  on,  Sir 
William  Drummond,  K.  B.,  who  had  come  to  the  United  States  to  allow 
his  fortune  to  recuperate  during  his  absence.  He  had  been  spending 
his  winters  in  New  Orleans  with  the  Southern  bloods,  and  his  bankers  in 
England  complained  that  his  income  was  not  sufficient  to  meet  his  large 
expenditures ;  he  was  advised  to  take  a  trip  to  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
which  would  occupy  him  during  the  summer  and  sickly  season,  during 
which  time  he  could  only  spend  what  he  had  with  him,  and  could  have 
a  fine  hunting  excursion.  This  English  nobleman  with  his  party  con 
sisted  of  himself  and  a  young  English  blood.  I  did  not  learn  whether 
he  was  of  the  first,  second,  third,  or  fourth  <rrade  in  the  scale  of 
English  nobility;  be  that  as  it  maj',  Sir  William  D.,  K.  B.,  messed  and 
slept  in  the  same  tent  with  this  traveling  companion  of  his,  who, 
between  them,  had  three  servants,  two  dogs,  and  four  extra  fine  horses, 
to  run  and  hunt  the  buffalo.  Occasionally,  they  would  give  chase  to 
that  swiftest  of  mountain  animals,  the  antelope,  which,  in  most 
instances,  would,  especially  where  the  grass  was  short,  leave  them  in 
the  distance,  when  Sir  William  and  his  companion  would  come  charg 
ing  back  to  the  train,  swearing  the  antelope  could  outrun  a  streak  of 
lightning,  ami  offering  to  bet  a  thousand  pounds  that  if  he  had  one  of 


116  HISTORY  OF  OREGON 

his  English  'orses  he  could  catch  'em.  The  English  nobleman,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  was  treated  with  great  respect  by  all  in  the  caravan ; 
while  in  the  presence  of  the  ladies  he  assumed  quite  a  dignified  car 
riage,  being  a  man  (excuse  me,  your  honor),  a  lord  of  the  British  realm, 
on  a  hunting  excursion  in  North  America,  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in 
the  year  A.  D.  1836.  He  was  about  five  feet  nine  inches  high.  His 
face  had  become  thin  from  the  free  use  of  New  Orleans  brandy,  ren 
dering  his  nose  rather  prominent,  showing  indications  of  internal  heat 
in  bright  red  spots,  and  inclining  a  little  to  the  rum  blossom,  that 
would  make  its  appearance  from  the  sting  of  a  mosquito  or  sand-fly, 
which  to  his  lordship  was  quite  annoying.  Though  his  lordship  was 
somewhat  advanced  in  years,  and,  according  to  his  own  account,  had 
traveled  extensively  in  the  oriental  countries,  he  did  not  show  in  his 
conversation  extensive  mental  improvement ;  his  general  conversation 
and  appearance  was  that  of  a  man  with  strong  prejudices,  and  equally 
strong  appetites,  which  he  had  freely  indulged,  with  only  pecuniary 
restraint.  His  two  wagons,  one  with  two  horses,  the  other  with  four 
mules,  with  drivers,  and  a  servant  for  cook  and  waiter,  constituted  his 
train — as  large  as  his  means  would  permit  on  that  trip.  All  of  the 
carts  and  wagons  were  covered  with  canvas  to  protect  the  goods  from 
storms.  Sir  William  traveled  under  the  alias  of  Captain  Stewart. 

The  order  of  march  was  as  follows  :  Cattle  and  loose  animals  in  ad 
vance  in  the  morning,  coming  up  in  rear  at  night ;  fur  company  and 
Captain  Stewart's  teams  in  advance;  mission  party  in  rear  till  we 
reached  Fort  Laramie.  All  went  smoothly  and  in  order.  At  the 
Pawnee  village  the  fur  company  was  short  of  meat  or  bacon.  Arrange 
ments  were  made  to  slaughter  one  of  the  mission  cows,  and  replace  it  at 
Laramie.  Two  days  from  Pawnee  village  the  hunters  brought  into 
camp  some  bull  buffalo  meat ;  next  day  cow  buffalo  meat  in  abundance. 
Not  far  from  Scott's  Bluff,  passed  some  hunters  on  their  way  down 
Platte  River  in  boats ;  arrive  at  Fort  Laramie,  just  above  the  mouth  of 
that  river;  cross  the  Platte  in  two  dug-outs,  lashed  together  with  sticks 
and  poles,  so  as  to  carry  the  goods  and  carts  all  over  to  the  fort.  At 
that  establishment  the  company  and  Captain  Stewart  leave  all  their 
wagons  and  carts  except  one,  deeming  it  impracticable  to  proceed 
further  with  them. 

On  account  of  the  ladies,  Dr.  Whitman  insisted  on  taking  one  of  the 
mission  wagons  along.  The  fur  company  concluded  to  try  the  experi 
ment  with  him,  and  took  one  of  their  carts  along.  Overhaul  all  the 
baggage,  select  out  all,  that,  with  the  knowledge  any  one  had  of  the 
future  wants  of  the  mission  party,  could  be  dispensed  with  ;  put  the 
balance  up  in  packages  of  one  hundred  pounds  each  ;  for  the  top  packs, 


DR  WHITMAN'S  WAGON. 

fifty  pounds ;  for  mules,  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds ;  for  horses,  in 
proportion  to  strength.  About  the  first  of  June,  1836,  the  caravan 
started  from  Laramie.  All  the  goods  on  pack  animals,  wagon  and 
cart  light,  Gray  in  charge  of  mission  pack-train,  with  two  men  and  one 
boy,  two  pack  animals  each ;  Spalding  of  cows,  loose  animals,  and 
ladies,  with  the  two  Indian  boys  to  assist  in  driving ;  Dr.  Whitman  in 
charge  of  the  wagon  train,  consisting  of  the  fur  company's  cart  and  mis 
sion  wagon  ;  but  one  man  in  the  cart  and  one  in  the  wagon.  On  we 
go  ;  the  first  day  from  Laramie  had  some  difficulty  in  getting  through 
a  cotton-wood  bottom  on  the  river,  on  account  of  fallen  timber  in  the 
trail.  Whitman  came  into  the  camp  puffing  and  blowing,  in  good 
spirits,  all  right  side  up,  with  only  one  turn  over  with  the  wagon  and 
two  with  the  cart.  The  fur  company  being  interested  in  exploring  a 
wagon  route  to  Green  River,  next  day  gave  the  Doctor  two  additional 
men  to  assist  in  exploring  and  locating  the  road,  and  getting  the  wagon 
and  cart  over  difficult  places.  Second  day  all  right ;  train  moves  on  ; 
hunters  in  advance  ;  cattle  usually  traveling  slower  than  the  train,  were 
started  in  the  morning  in  advance  of  the  train,  which  usually  passed 
them  about  one  hour  before  reaching  camp  at  night ;  at  noon  they  usu 
ally  all  stop  together.  At  the  crossing  of  Platte  below  Red  Buttes,  in 
the  Black  Hills,  kill  buffalo,  took  hides,  made  willow  frames  for  boats, 
sewed  the  hides  together  to  cover  the  frames,  used  tallow  for  pitch, 
dried  the  skin  boats  over  a  fire,  the  rain  having  poured  down  all  the 
time  we  were  getting  ready  to  cross.  However,  as  fortune  always 
favors  the  brave,  as  the  saying  is,  it  did  us  this  time,  for  in  the  morn 
ing,  when  our  boats  were  ready,  it  cleared  up,  the  sun  came  out  bright 
and  clear,  so  that  we  had  a  fine  time  getting  all  things  over.  Next 
day  on  we  moved,  over  the  hills,  through  the  valleys,  around  and 
among  the  salt  pits  to  a  willow  grove  to  camp. 

With  the  company  was  a  gentleman  from  St.  Louis,  a  Major  Pilcher. 
He  usually  rode  a  fine  white  mule,  and  was  dressed  in  the  top  of  hunting 
or  mountain  style,  such  as  a  fine  buckskin  coat  trimmed  with  red  cloth 
and  porcupine  quills,  fine  red  shirt,  nice  buckskin  pants,  and  moccasins 
tinged  and  nicely  trimmed  ;  he  was,  in  fact,  very  much  of  a  gentleman 
in  all  his  conversation  and  deportment.  The  major  was  also  consider 
able  of  a  gallant  (as  I  believe  most  titled  gentlemen  are).  He  was  pro 
ceeding  around  one  of  those  clay  salt  pits,  and  explaining  to  the  ladies 
their  nature  and  danger,  when  suddenly  mule,  major  and  all  dropped 
out  of  sight,  except  the  mule's  ears  and  the  fringe  on  the  major's  coat. 
Instantly  several  men  were  on  hand  with  ropes,  and  assisted  the  major 
and  mule  out  of  the  pit.  Such  a  sight!  you  may  imagine  what  you 
please,  I  will  not  attempt  to  describe  it.  However,  no  particular  harm 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

was  done  the  major,  only  the  thorough  saturation  of  his  fine  suit  of 
buckskin,  and  mule,  with  that  indescribably  adhesive  mud.  He  took  it 
all  in  good  part,  and  joined  in  the  jokes  on  the  occasion.  Xo  other 
remarkable  incident  occurred  till  we  arrived  at  Rock  Independence. 
On  the  south  end  of  that  rock  nearly  all  the  prominent  persons  of  the 
party  placed  their  names,  and  date  of  being  there. 

Later  wagon  trains  and  travelers  have  complained,  and  justly,  of 
sage  brush  and  the  difficulties  of  this  route.  Whitman  and  his  four  men 
opened  it  as  far  as  they  could  with  a  light  wagon  and  a  cart.  To  him 
must  be  given  the  credit  of  the  first  practical  experiment,  though 
Ashtley,  Bonneville,  and  Bridger  had  taken  wagons  into  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  left  them,  and  pronounced  the  experiment  a  failure,  and 
a  wagon  road  impracticable.  Whitman's  perseverance  demonstrated 
a  great  fact — the  practicability  of  a  wagon  road  over  the  Rocky  Moun 
tains.  You  that  have  rolled  over  those  vast  plains  and  slept  in  your 
Concord  coaches  or  Pullman  palace  cars,  have  never  once  imagined  the 
toil  and  labor  of  that  old  off-hand  pioneer,  as  he  mounted  his  horse  in 
the  morning  and  rode  all  day  in  the  cold  and  heat  of  the  mountains 
and  plains,  to  prove  that  a  wagon  road  was  practicable  to  the  waters 
of  the  Columbia  River.  Even  Fremont,  seven  years  after,  claims  to  be 
the  discoverer  of  the  passes  through  which  Whitman  took  his  cart  and 
wagon,  and  kept  up  with  the  pack-train  from  day  to  day. 

From  Rock  Independence  the  health  of  Mrs.  Spalding  seemed  grad 
ually  to  decline.  She  was  placed  in  the  wagon  as  much  as  would  re 
lieve  her,  and  ehano-ed  from  wagon  to  saddle  as  she  could  bear,  to  the 

O  O  ' 

American  rendezvous  on  Green  River. 

From  Rock  Independence  information  was  sent  forward  into  the 
mountains  of  the  arrival  of  the  caravan,  and  about  the  time  and  place 
they  expected  to  reach  the  rendezvous.  This  information  reached  not 
only  the  American  trapper  and  hunter  in  the  mountains,  but  the  Snake, 
Bannock,  Nez  Perce,  and  Flathead  tribes,  and  the  traders  of  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company.  Two  days  before  we  arrived  at  our  rendezvous, 
some  two  hours  before  we  reached  camp,  the  whole  caravan  was  alarmed 
by  the  arrival  of  some  ten  Indians  and  four  or  five  white  men,  whose 
dress  and  appearance  could  scarcely  be  distinguished  from  that  of  the 
Indians.  As  they  came  in  sight  over  the  hills,  they  all  gave  a  yell, 
such  as  hunters  and  Indians  only  can  give;  whiz,  whiz,  came  their 
balls  over  our  heads,  and  on  they  came,  in  less  time  than  it  will  take 
veu  to  read  this  account.  The  alarm  was  but  for  a  moment ;  our  guide 

<3 

had  seen  a  white  cloth  on  one  of  their  guns,  and  said,  "  Don't  be  alarmed, 
they  are  friends,"  and  sure  enough,  in  a  moment  here  they  were.  It 
was  difficult  to  tell  which  was  the  most  crazy,  the  horse  or  the  rider; 


NEZ  PERCE  INDIANS. 

such  hopping,  hooting,  running,  jumping,  yelling,  jumping  sage  brush, 
whirling  around,  for  they  could  not  stop  to  reload  their  guns,  but  all 
of  us  as  they  came  on  gave  them  a  salute  from  ours,  as  they  passed  to 
the  rear  of  our  line  and  back  again,  hardly  stopping  to  give  the  hand 
to  any  one.  On  to  camp  we  went. 

At  night,  who  should  we  find  but  old  Takkensuitas  and  Ish-hol-hol- 
hoats-hoats  (Lawyer),  with  a  letter  from  Mr.  Parker,  which  informed 
the  party  that  he  had  arrived  safely  at  Wallawalla,  and  that  the 
Indians  had  been  kind  to  him,  and  from  what  he  had  seen  and  could 
learn  of  them,  they  were  well  disposed  toward  all  white  men.  Mr. 
Parker,  as  his  journal  of  that  trip  and  observations  will  show,  was  a 
man  of  intelligence,  and  a  close  observer  of  men  and  things. 

He  soon  learned,  on  arriving  at  Wall  a  walla,  that  there  was  a  bitter 
anti- American  feeling  in  the  country,  and  that,  notwithstanding  he  had 
arrived  in  it  uninvited,  and  without  the  aid  of  the  Honorable  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  he  was  in  it,  nevertheless,  as  the  guest  of  the  N"ez  Perce 
Indians.  They  had  found  him  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  ;  they  brought 
him  to  Wallawalla ;  they  had  received  him,  treated  him  kindly,  and 
proved  to  him  that  they  were  not  only  friendly,  but  anxious  to  have 
the  American  influence  and  civilization  come  among  them.  Rev. 
Jason  Lee  and  party  were  in  the  country.  Abundance  of  unasked 
advice  was  given  to  him  by  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  men ;  his 
caution  prevailed ;  he  was  to  let  Dr,  Whitman,  or  the  mission  party 
that  might  be  sent  across  the  mountains,  hear  from  him  by  the  Indians. 
Feeling  certain  that  any  advice  or  information  he  might  attempt  to 
communicate  to  his  missionary  friends  would  in  all  probability  be 
made  use  of  to  their  detriment,  and  perhaps  destroy  the  mission  itself, 
he  did  not  deem  it  prudent  to  write  or  to  give  any  advice.  Should 
any  party  come  on  before  he  could  reach  them,  his  note  was  sufficient 
to  inform  them  of  the  fact  of  his  safe  arrival  and  the  friendly  treat 
ment  he  had  received  of  the  Indians ;  further  than  this  he  did  not  feel 
safe  to  communicate — not  for  want  of  confidence  in  the  Indians,  but 
from  what  he  saw  and  learned  of  the  feelings  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany.  Yet  he  felt  that,  notwithstanding  they  were  showing  him  out 
wardly  every  attention,  yet  they  evidently  did  not  wish  to  see  the 
American  influence  increase  in  any  shape  in  the  country. 

Rev.  Mr.  Parker's  letter,  short  and  unsatisfactory  as  it  was,  caused 
considerable  expression  of  unpleasant  feeling  on  the  part  of  those  who 
considered  they  had  a  right  to  a  more  full  and  extended  communication. 
But  Mr.  Parker  was  at  Vancouver,  or  somewhere  else;  they  might  and 
they  might  not  meet  him ;  he  may  and  he  may  not  have  written  more 
fully. 


120  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

At  supper  time  old  Takkensuitas  (Rotten  Belly)  and  Ish-hol-hol- 
hoats-hoats  were  honored  with  a  place  at  the  missionary  board.  With 
your  permission,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  will  give  you  the  bill  of 
fare  on  this  memorable  occasion.  Place — by  the  side  of  a  muddy 
stream  called  Sandy,  about  thirty  miles  south  of  Wind  River  Moun 
tain.  This  mountain,  you  will  remember,  is  about  as  near  the  highest 
point  of  the  North  American  continent  as  can  be.  This  fact  is  estab 
lished,  not  from  geographical  or  barometrical  observations,  but  from 
the  simple  fact  that  water  runs  from  it  by  way  of  the  Missouri,  Colo 
rado,  and  Columbia  rivers  into  the  eastern,  southern,  and  western 
oceans,  and  but  a  short  distance  to  the  north  of  this  mountain  com 
mences  the  waters  of  the  Saskatchewan  River,  running  into  Hudson's 
Bay  and  the  northern  ocean.  There  are  doubtless  many  other  moun 
tains  whose  peaks  ascend  higher  into  the  clouds,  but  none  of  them  sup 
ply  water  to  so  vast  an  extent  of  country,  and  none  of  them  are  so  de 
cidedly  on  top  of  the  continent  as  this  one.  Of  course  our  little  party 
is  in  a  high  altitude,  and  in  sight  of  this  mountain,  which  may  or  may 
not  have  been  ten  thousand  feet  higher  to  its  snow-capped  peaks. 
Date — about  the  20th  day  of  July,  1836.  Our  table  was  the  grass  beside 
this  muddy  stream;  cloth — an  old  broken  oil-cloth  badly  used  up; 
plates — when  the  company  started  were  called  tin,  but  from  hard  usage 
were  iron  in  all  shapes ;  cups — ditto  ;  knives — the  common  short-bladed 
wooden-handled  butcher  knife ;  forks — a  stick  each  cut  to  suit  himself, 
or,  if  he  preferred  the  primitive  mode  of  conveying  his  food  to  its  prop 
er  destination,  he  was  at  liberty  to  practice  it ;  food  extra  on  this  oc 
casion — a  nice  piece  of  venison,  which  the  Indians  had  presented  to  the 
ladies,  a  piece  of  broiled  and  roast  buffalo  meat,  roasted  upon  a  stick 
before  the  fire,  seasoned  with  a  little  salt,  with  a  full  proportion  of  sand 
and  dirt.  Dr.  Whitman  was  inclined  to  discard  the  use  of  salt  entirely ; 
as  to  dirt  and  sand  it  was  a  matter  upon  which  he  and  Mr.  Parker  dif 
fered  on  the  trip  the  year  previous,  though  Mrs.  Whitman  took  sides 
with  Mr.  Parker  against  the  Doctor,  and  with  the  assistance  of  Mrs. 
Spalding,  the  Doctor  was  kept  in  most  cases  within  reasonable  distance 
of  comfortable  cleanliness.  On  this  occasion  tea,  with  sugar,  was  used ; 
the  supply  of  bread  was  limited ;  we  will  not  trouble  the  reader  with 
an  extra  list  of  the  dessert.  Of  this  feast  these  sons  of  the  wilderness 
partook  with  expressions  of  great  satisfaction.  The  Lawyer,  twenty- 
seven  years  after,  spoke  of  it  as  the  time  when  his  heart  became  one 
with  the  Suapies  (Americans). 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Arrival  at  American  rendezvous. — An  Indian  procession. — Indian  curiosity  to  see  white 
women. — Captain  N.  Wyeth. — McCleod  and  T.  McKay. — Description  of  mountain 
men. — Their  opinion  of  the  missionaries. 

Ix  two  days'  easy  travel  we  arrived  at  the  great  American  ren 
dezvous,  held  in  an  extensive  valley  in  the  forks  formed  by  Horse 
Creek  and  Green  River,  on  account  of  the  abundance  of  wood,  grass, 
and  water  all  through  the  valley.  Each  party  selected  their  own 
camp  grounds,  guarding  their  own  animals  and  goods,  as  each  felt  or 
anticipated  the  danger  he  might  be  exposed  to  at  the  time.  We  will 
pass  through  this  city  of  about  fifteen  hundred  inhabitants — composed 
of  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men,  and  on  this  occasion  two  classes 
of  women, — starting  from  a  square  log  pen  18  by  18,  with  no  doors, 
except  two  logs  that  had  been  cut  so  as  to  leave  a  space  about  four 
feet  from  the  ground  two  feet  wide  and  six  feet  long,  designed  for  an 
entrance,  as  also  a  place  to  hand  out  goods  and  take  in  furs.  It  was 
covered  with  poles,  brush  on  top  of  the  poles ;  in  case  of  rain,  which  we 
had  twice  during  our  stay  at  the  rendezvous,  the  goods  were  covered 
with  canvas,  or  tents  thrown  over  them.  Lumber  being  scarce  in  that 
vicinity,  floors,  doors,  as  well  as  sash  and  glass,  were  dispensed  with. 
The  spaces  between  the  logs  were  sufficient  to  -admit  all  the  light 
requisite  to  do  business  in  this  primitive  store.  At  a  little  dis 
tance  from  the  store  were  the  camps  of  the  fur  company,  in  which 
might  be  seen  the  pack-saddles  and  equipage  of  the  mules,  in  piles  to 
suit  the  taste  and  disposition  of  the  men  having  them  in  charge.  The 
trading-hut  was  a  little  distance  from  the  main  branch  of  Green  River, 
so  situated  that  the  company's  mules  and  horses  could  all  be  driven 
between  the  store  and  the  river,  the  tents  and  men  on  either  side,  the 
store  in  front,  forming  a  camp  that  could  be  defended  against  an 
attack  of  the  Indians,  in  case  they  should  attempt  any  thing  of  the  kind. 
Green  River,  at  the  point  where  our  city  in  the  mountains  is  situated, 
is  running  from  the  west  due  east.  West  of  the  fur  company's  camp 
or  store  were  most  of  the  camps  of  the  hunters  and  trappers;  east 
of  it,  close  to  the  river,  was  the  missionary  camp,  while  to  the  south, 
from  one  to  three  miles  distant  along  Horse  Creek,  from  its  junction 
with  Green  River,  where  the  Snake  and  Bannock  Indians  were  camped, 


122  HISTORY  OF  OREGON* 

to  six  miles  up  that  stream,  were  the  camps  of  the  Flatheads  and  Nez 
Perces.  All  these  tribes  were  at  peace  that  year,  and  met  at  the 
American  rendezvous.  The  Indian  camps  were  so  arranged  in  the 
Lends  of  the  creek  that  they  could  defend  themselves  and  their  horses 
in  case  of  any  attack  from  the  neighboring  tribes,  and  also  guard  their 
horses  while  feeding  in  the  day-time.  The  whole  city  was  a  military 
camp ;  every  little  camp  had  its  own  guards  to  protect  its  occupants 
and  property  from  being  stolen  by  its  neighbor.  The  arrow  or  the 
ball  decided  any  dispute  that  might  occur.  The  only  law  known  for 
horse-stealing  was  death  to  the  thief,  if  the  owner  or  the  <niard  could 

•3  O 

kill  him  in  the  act.  If  he  succeeded  in  escaping,  the  only  remedy  for 
the  man  who  lost  his  horse  was  to  buy,  or  steal  another  and  take  his 
chances  in  escaping  the  arrow  or  ball  of  the  owner,  or  guard.  It  was 
quite  fashionable  in  this  city  for  all  to  go  well  armed,  as  the  best 
and  quickest  shot  gained  the  case  in  dispute.  Of  the  number  assem 
bled,  there  must  have  been  not  far  from  one  hundred  Americans, — 
hunters  and  trappers ;  about  fifty  French,  belonging  principally  to  the 
caravan  ;  some  five  traders  ;  about  twenty  citizens,  or  outsiders,  includ 
ing  the  mission  party.  The  Snakes  and  Bannocks  mustered  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  warriors ;  the  Nez  Perces  and  Flatheads,  about 
two  hundred.  By  arrangement  among  themselves  they  got  up  a 
grand  display  for  the  benefit  of  their  white  visitors,  which  came  oif 
some  six  days  after  our  American  caravan  had  arrived  at  the  ren 
dezvous. 

The  procession  commenced  at  the  east  or  lower  end  of  the  plain  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Snake  and  Bannock  camps.  The  Nez  Perces  and 
Flatheads,  passing  from  their  camps  down  the  Horse  Creek,  joined  the 
Snake  and  Bannock  warriors,  all  dressed  and  painted  in  their  gayest 
uniforms,  each  having  a  company  of  warriors  in  war  garb,  that  is, 
naked,  except  a  single  cloth,  and  painted,  carrying  their  war  weapons, 
bearing  their  war  emblems  and  Indian  implements  of  music,  such  as 
skins  drawn  over  hoops  with  rattles  and  trinkets  to  make  a  noise. 
From  the  fact  that  no  scalps  were  borne  in  the  procession,  I  concluded 
this  must  be  entirely  a  peace  performance,  and  gotten  up  for  the  occa 
sion.  When  the  cavalcade,  amounting  to  full  five  (some  said  six)  hun 
dred  Indian  warriors  (though  I  noticed  quite  a  number  of  native  belles 
covered  with  beads),  commenced  coming  up  through  the  plain  in  sight 
of  our  camps,  those  of  us  Avho  were  not  informed  as  to  the  object  or 
design  of  this  demonstration  began  to  look  at  our  weapons  and  cal 
culate  on  a  desperate  fight.  Captain  Stewart,  our  English  nobleman, 
and  Major  Pilcher  waited  on  the  mission  ladies  and  politely  informed 
them  of  the  object  of  the  display;  they  assured  them  there  would  be  no 


INDIAN  VOCABULARY.  123 

danger  or  harm,  and  remained  at  their  tents  while  the  cavalcade 
passed.  Mrs.  Whitman's  health  was  such  that  she  could  witness  most 
of  the  display.  Mrs.  Spalding  was  quite  feeble,  and  kept  her  tent  most 
of  the  time.  All  passed  off  quietly,  excepting  the  hooting  and  yelling 
of  the  Indians  appropriate  to  the  occasion. 

The  display  over,  the  mission  camp  around  the  tent  was  thronged. 
On  first  hearing  the  war-whoop,  the  savage  yell,  and  the  sound  of  the 
Indian  war  drum,  all  parties  not  in  the  secret  of  this  surprise  party,  or 
native  reception  for  their  missionaries,  at  once  drove  in  their  animals, 
and  prepared  for  the  worst ;  hence  the  mission  cows,  horses,  and  camp, 
were  all  together.  Major  Pilcher  and  Captain  Stewart  enjoyed  the 
surprise  of  the  party,  and  were  equally  delighted  with  the  effect  and 
surprise  manifested  by  the  Indians,  as  they  approached  the  mission 
camp.  The  wagon,  and  every  thing  about  their  camp,  was  examined. 
The  Indians  would  pass  and  repass  the  tent,  to  get  a  sight  of  the  two 
women  belonging  to  the  white  men.  Mrs.  Spalding,  feeble  as  she  was, 
seemed  to  be  the  favorite  with  the  Indian  women ;  possibly  from  that 
fact  alone  she  may  have  gained  their  sympathy  to  some  extent.  The 
Lawyer  and  Takkensuitas  were  constant  visitors  at  the  tent.  Their 
Indian  wives  were  with  them,  and  showed  a  disposition  to  do  all  in 
their  power  to  assist  the  missionaries.  Mrs.  Spalding's  rest  from  the 
fatigues  of  the  journey  soon  enabled  her  to  commence  a  vocabulary  of 
the  Indian  language.  Mrs.  Whitman  also  commenced  one  with  her, 
but  she  was  often  interrupted  by  the  attentions  thought  necessary  to  be 
paid  to  gentlemen  callers.  Excuse  me,  whoever  believes  that  thirty- 
three  years  since  there  were  no  gentlemen  on  top  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  I  can  assure  you  that  there  were,  and  that  all  the  refined 
education  and  manners  of  the  daughter  of  Judge  Prentiss,  of  Prattsburg, 
Steuben  County,  N.  Y.,  found  abundant  opportunity  to  exhibit  the  car 
dinal  ornaments  of  a  religious  and  civili/ed  country.  No  one,  except 
an  eye-witness,  can  appreciate  or  fully  understand  the  charm  there  was 
in  those  early  days  in  the  sight  of  the  form  and  white  features  of  his 
mother.  The  rough  veteran  mountain  hunter  would  touch  his  hat  in  a 
manner  absolutely  ridiculous,  and  often  fail  to  express  a  designed  com 
pliment,  which  the  mischief  or  good-humor  of  Mrs.  Whitman  some 
times  enjoyed  as  a  good  joke.  In  consequence  of  these  attentions  or 
interruptions,  she  did  not  acquire  the  native  language  as  fast  as  Mrs. 
Spalding,  who  showed  but  little  attention  to  any  one  except  the  natives 
and  their  wives. 

The  Indian  curiosity  had  not  fully  subsided  before  the  company  were 
introduced  to,  and  cordially  greeted  by,  Captain  Wyeth,  who  had  been 
to  the  lower  Columbia  on  a  trading  expedition.  He  had  conducted 


124  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

Rev.  Jason  Lee  and  party  to  Fort  Hall,  where  lie  had  established  a 
trading-post ;  thence  he  had  gone  to  the  lower  country,  received  his 
goods  from  the  brig  May  J)acrey  made  arrangements  with  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  sold  his  goods  and  establishment  at  Fort  Hall  to  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  was  then  on  his  way  back  to  the  States. 
Captain  Wyeth,  in  all  his  motions  and  features,  showed  the  shrewd 
Yankee  and  the  man  of  business.  He  politely  introduced  the  mission 
party  to  Messrs.  John  McLeod  and  Thomas  McKay,  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company.  After  the  usual  etiquette  of  introduction  and  common 
inquiries,  Messrs.  McLeod  and  McKay  having  retired  to  their  camps, 
Captain  W.  entered  into  a  full  explanation  of  the  whys  and  wherefores 
of  Rev.  Mr.  Parker's  short  note,  confirming  the  observations  and 
suspicions  of  Mr.  Parker,  in  reference  to  the  treatment  the  missionaries 
might  expect,  giving  a  full  statement  of  the  feelings  and  efforts  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  get  rid  of  all  American  influence,  and 
especially  traders.  Turning,  with  a  smile,  upon  the  ladies,  but 
addressing  the  gentlemen,  he  said,  "You  gentlemen  have  your  wives 
along ;  if  I  do  not  greatly  mistake  the  feelings  of  the  gentlemen  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  they  will  be  anxious  to  have  their  influence 
in  teaching  their  own  wives  and  children,  and  you  will  meet  with  a 
different  reception  from  any  other  American  party  that  has  gone  into 
the  country."  It  would  be  useless  to  add  in  this  sketch  that  the  advice 
of  Captain  W.  was  of  incalculable  value  in  shaping  the  policy  and  con 
duct  of  the  mission  of  the  American  Board  in  their  necessary  transac 
tions  and  intercourse  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Captain  W. 
had  fallen  in  with  Rev.  S.  Parker,  but  could  give  no  definite  information 
about  him  or  his  plans,  except  that  he  was  on  his  return  to  the  United 
States,  by  way  of  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

As  we  have  never  seen  a  description  of  these  semi-civilized  men,  that 
in  youth  had  left  their  native  countries,  and  found  themselves  thousands 
of  miles  away,  in  the  midst  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  wild,  roving  bands  of  savages,  cut  off  from  communication  with 
civilization,  except  by  the  annual  return  of  the  fur  company's  traders, 
or  occasional  wandering  to  some  distant  trading-post,  a  thousand  or 
five  hundred  miles  from  the  borders  of  any  State  or  settlement,  we  will 
at  this  time  introduce  to  the  reader  several  men  as  we  found  them  at 
this  American  rendezvous,  most  of  them  finding  their  way  eventually 
into  the  settlement  of  Oregon,  and  becoming,  active  and  prominent  men 
in  the  organization  of  the  provisional  government,  as  also  good  citizens. 
Among  these  veteran  Rocky  Mountain  hunters  was  a  tall  man,  with 
long  black  hair,  smooth  face,  dark  eyes  (inclining  to  turn  his  head  a 
little  to  one  side,  as  much  as  to  say,  "I  can  tell  you  all  about  it"), 


MOUNTAIN  MEN.  125 

a  harum-scarum,  don't-care  sort  of  a  man,  full  of  "  life  and  fun  in  the 
mountains,"  as  he  expressed  it.  He  came  and  paid  his  respects  to  the 
ladies,  and  said  he  had  been  in  the  mountains  several  years ;  he  had 
not  seen  a  white  woman  for  so  long  he  had  almost  forgotten  how  they 
looked.  He  appeared  quite  fond  of  telling  "  yarns."  In  the  conver 
sation,  Mrs.  Whitman  asked  him  if  he  ever  had  any  difficulty  or  fights 
with  the  Indians.  "  That  we  did,"  said  he.  "  One  time  I  was  with 
Bridger's  camp ;  we  were  traveling  along  that  day,  and  the  Blackfeet 
came  upon  us.  I  was  riding  an  old  mule.  The  Indians  were  discovered 
some  distance  oft',  so  all  the  party  put  whip  to  their  horses  and  started 
to  get  to  a  place  where  we  could  defend  ourselves.  My  old  mule  was 
determined  not  to  move,  with  all  the  beating  I  could  give  her,  so  I  sung 
out  to  the  boys  to  stop  and  fight  the  Indians  where  we  were  ;  they  kept 
on,  however.  Soon,  my  old  mule  got  sight  of  the  Blackfeet  coining ; 
she  pricked  up  her  ears,  and  on  she  went  like  a  streak,  passed  the  boys, 
and  away  we  went.  I  sung  out  to  the  boys,  as  I  passed,  '  Come  on, 
boys,  there  is  no  use  to  stop  and  fight  the  Indians  here.'"  Fun  and 
firmness  were  the  two  prominent  characteristics  of  this  young  mountain 
hunter.  He  expressed  a  wish  and  a  determination  to  visit  and  settle  in 
lower  Oregon  (as  the  Wallamet  Valley  was  then  called).  He  had  a 
native  wife,  and  one  son,  just  beginning  to  speak  a  few  words.  The 
father  seemed,  on  my  first  noticing  him,  to  be  teaching  this  son  of  his 

to  say  "  God  d n  you,"  doubtless  considering  this  prayer  the  most 

important  one  to  teach  his  son  to  repeat,  in  the  midst  of  the  wild  scenes 
with  which  he  was  surrounded.  Though,  to  his  credit  be  it  said,  this 
same  wild,  youthful  mountaineer  has  become  a  good  supporter  of 
religious  society,  and  has  a  respectable  family,  in  an  interesting  neigh 
borhood,  near  Forest  Grove,  in  Oregon. 

We  will  call  these  mountain  hunters  by  numbers,  for  convenience,  as 
we  shall  refer  to  them  in  our  future  political  sketches,  in  which  they 
participated. 

No.  2.  A  man  of  medium  height,  black  hair,  black  whiskers,  dark- 
brown  eyes,  and  very  dark  complexion ;  he  was  formerly  from  Ken 
tucky.  (I  am  not  positive.)  He  was  quite  fond  of  telling  yarns  ;  still, 
as  he  was  not  considered  very  truthful,  we  will  only  give  the  story  as 
we  have  it  of  the  manner  in  which  he  and  the  one  we  will  give  as  No. 
3  obtained  their  titles.  2  and  3  were  traveling  together ;  3  was  from 
Cincinnati,  Ohio.  They  had  reached  Independence,  Mo. ;  says  3  to  2, 
"  Titles  are  very  necessary  here  in  Missouri,  what  titles  shall  we  take  ?  " 
"Well,"  says  2,  "I  will  take  Major."  3  says,  "I  will  take  Doctor." 
Very  good.  They  rode  up  to  the  best  hotel  in  the  place  and  called  for 
lodgings. 


126  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

2.  "Well,  Doctor,  what  shall  we  have  for  supper?" 

3.  "  I  don't  care,  Major,  so  as  we  get  something  to  eat." 

The  Major  and  the  Doctor  enjoyed  their  supper  and  have  borne  their 
titles  to  the  present  time.  The  Major  has  never  been,  from  all  I  could 
learn  of  him,  a  very  truthful  man  or  reliable  citizen.  He  spent  several 
years  in  Oregon  and  in  the  mountains,  and  found  his  way  back  to  Mis 
souri.  The  Doctor  is  now  a  resident  of  Idaho.  The  most  remarkable  trait 
in  his  composition  is  story-telling,  or  yarns,  and  a  disposition  to  make 
friends  of  all  political  parties,  or  join  all  religious  sects — something  of 
a  good  lord  and  good  devil  order.  He  appeared  in  those  early  times  to 
belong  to  that  party  that  paid  him  the  best.  He  was  first  in  the  em 
ploy  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  but  appeared  to  lend  his  influence 
to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  He  also  had  a  native  wife  of  the  Nez 
Perce  tribe,  and  was  considered  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  a  useful 
man  to  divide  the  American  influence  in  trade  with  the  Indians  in  the 
mountains,  and  equally  useful  to  distract  and  divide  the  political  influ 
ence  of  the  early  settlers.  By  his  connection  with  the  natives  in  mar 
riage,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  trade,  and  good  lord  and  good 
devil  principles,  he  could  adapt  himself  to  the  Protestant  or  Catholic 
religion,  and  in  this  manner  become  a  kind  of  representative  man,  some 
thing  like  strong  lye  and  aquafortis  mixed,  and  just  about  as  useful  as 
such  a  mixture  would  be.  He  succeeded,  by  political  maneuvering,  or 
as  the  sailors  say,  "  boxing  the  compass,"  to  fill  a  place  and  draw  a 
salary  from  Uncle  Sam ;  carrying  out  the  principles  he  has  acted  upon 
in  his  whole  life,  his  efforts  have  been  to  neutralize  what  good  others 
might  do. 

No.  4.  A  young  man  from  Ohio,  of  a  serious  turn  of  mind ;  at  least  I 
concluded  this  to  be  the  case,  from  the  fact  that  he  asked  of  the  ladies 
if  they  had  any  books  to  sell,  or  that  they  could  spare.  A  nice  pocket- 
bible  was  given  him,  for  which  he  politely  expressed  his  thanks,  after 
offering  to  pay  for  it.  The  pay,  of  course,  was  declined,  as  a  few  bibles 
were  brought  along  for  distribution.  This  young  man,  in  a  few  years, 
followed  the  mission  party  and  became  a  settler  and  a  prominent  man 
in  the  provisional  government. 

No.  5.  A  wild,  reckless,  don't-care  sort  of  a  youth,  with  a  Nez  Perce 
wife,  so  thoroughly  attached  to  Indian  ideas  and  customs  that  he  has 
felt  it  beneath  his  dignity  to  turn  from  the  ancient  habits  of  the  In 
dian  to  a  "more  recent  invention"  of. religion  and  civilization.  His 
curiosity  was  a  little  excited,  which  induced  him  to  pay  his  respects  to 
the  missionaries,  on  account  of  their  wives.  He  called  on  them,  and 
spoke  of  some  day  finding  his  way  somewhere  down  about  where  the 
missionaries  might  be  located ;  as  he  had  bought  him  a  Nez  Perce  wife, 


MOUNTAIN  MEN.  127 

she  might  want  to  go  and  see  her  people,  and  he  might  make  up  his 
mind  to  go  and  settle.  This  man,  from  his  utter  disregard' for  all  moral 
and  civilized  social  relations,  has  coiled  himself  up  in  the  tribe  he 
adopted,  and  spit  out  his  venomous  influence  against  all  moral  and  civil 
improvement,  training  his  children  so  that  the  better  portion  of  the 
natives  treat  them  with  contempt.  For  a  time  he  had  considerable  in 
fluence  in  shaping  government  policy  toward  the  tribe  and  securing  his 
own  personal  Indian  position,  to  the  injury  of  all  other  interests.  I  am 
unable  to  say  how  he  obtained  his  title  of  colonel,  unless  it  was  from 
the  influence  he  once  pretended  to  have  with  the  Indians,  and  a  disposi 
tion  on  the  part  of  those  of  his  countrymen  to  title  those  who  aspire  to 
such  honors. 

No.  6.  What  the  miners  nowadays  would  call  a  "  plain,  honest  far 
mer,"  with  a  native  wife  and  one  child.  He  called  on  the  party,  took. 
a  look  at  their  cattle,  and  some  four  years  afterward,  after  going  into 
Mexico  and  Taos,  found  his  way  to  the  Wallamet  as  a  settler,  with  a 
few  head  of  cattle,  which  he  managed  to  get  through.  This  man  is  a 
quiet  and  good  citizen,  and  has  a  respectable  family  of  half-native  chil 
dren.  The  accursed  influence  of  slavery  in  his  neighborhood  has  borne 
heavily  upon  bis  children.  Whether  they  will  be  able  to  rise  above 
it  and  stand  as  examples  of  good  citizens  remains  for  them  to  demon 
strate. 

No.  Y.  A  short,  thick-set  man,  with  a  Nez  Perce  wife  ;  a  good  honest 
farmer;  has  done  credit  to  himself  and  family  in  giving  them  every 
possible  advantage  for  education  and  society,  though  the  aquafortis 
mixture  has  been  strong  in  his  neighborhood  ;  his  family  are  respected  ; 
his  Indian  wife  he  considers  as  good  as  Some  of  his  neighbors',  that  don't 
like  her  or  her  children.  In  this  opinion  all  who  are  not  saturated  with 
our  cultus  mixture  agree  with  him.  His  title  in  the  mountains  was 
Squire,  but  I  think  it  has  been  improved  since  he  came  to  the  settle 
ments  by  adding  the  E  to  it,  he  having  been- duly  elected  to  fill  the 
oftice  under  the  provisional,  territorial,  and  State  government.  I  have 
learned,  with  much  regret,  that  the  Squire  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
who  had  courage  and  strength  to  meet  and  overcome  all  the  dangers 
and  trials  of  early  times,  has  not  the  courage  to  resist  the  approaches 
of  false  friends  and  bad  whisky,  which  will  ultimately  bring  himself 
and  his  family  to  that  certain  destruction  that  follows  the  debasing 
habit  of  using  liquor  in  any  shape. 

No.  8.  A  fair,  light-haired,  light-complexioned,  blue-eyed  man,  rather 
above  the  medium  height,  with  a  Nez  Perce  wife,  came  about  the 
camp,  had  little  or  nothing  to  say.  I  am  not  quite  certain  that  he  had 
his  native  wife  at  that  time,  still  he  had  one  when  he  came  into  the 


128  HISTOET  OF  OREGON. 

settlement.  He  has  a  good  farm,  and  if  he  avoids  his  false  friends  and 
the  fatal  habits  of  his  neighbors,  he  may  have  a  good  name,  which  will 
be  of  more  value  to  his  children  than  his  present  social  and  vicious 
habits. 

Doctor  Marcus  Whitman,  they  considered,  on  the  whole,  was  a  good 
sort  of  a  fellow ;  he  was  not  so  hide-bound  but  what  he  could  talk  with 
a  common  man  and  get  along  easily  if  his  wife  did  not  succeed  in 
" stiffening"  starching  him  up ;  he,  would  do  first-rate,  though  there 
appeared  considerable  doubt  in  their  minds,  whether,  from  her  stern, 
commanding  manner,  she  would  not  eventually  succeed  in  stiffening 
up  the  Doctor  so  that  he  would  be  less  agreeable.  Mrs.  Whitman, 
they  thought,  wras  a  woman  of  too  much  education  and  refinement  to 
be  thrown  away  on  the  Indians.  "  She  must  have  had  considerable 
romance  in  her  disposition  to  have  undertaken  such  an  expedition  with 
such  a  common,  kind,  good-hearted  fellow  as  the  Doctor.  As  to  Spal- 
ding,  he  is  so  green  he  will  do  to  spread  out  on  a  frog-pond ;  he  may  do 
to  preach  to  Indians,  but  mountain  men  would  have  to  be  fly-blown 
before  he  could  come  near  them.  Mrs.  Spalding  is  a  first-rate  woman ; 
she  has  not  got  any  starch  in  her ;  it  is  strange  she  ever  picked  up  such 
a  greenhorn  as  she  has  for  a  husband ;  she  will  do  first-rate  to  teach  the 
Indians,  or  anybody  else  ;  she  has  got  good  common  sense,  and  doesn't 
put  on  any  frills.  As  to  Gray,  he  is  young  yet,  is  not  quite  so  green  as 
Spalding ;  he  seems  inclined  to  learn  a  little ;  by  the  time  he  goes  to 
the  Columbia  River  and  travels  about  more,  he  will  know  a  good  deal 
more  than  he  does  now.  He  may  do  well  in  his  department  if  he 
'  keeps  his  eye  skinned.'  " 

I  supppose  by  this  expression  was  meant  a  sharp  look  out  for 
swindlers,  rogues,  and  thieves,  to  see  that  they  do  not  lie,  cheat,  and 
steal,  every  opportunity  they  may  have,  or  at  least  that  you  do  not 
allow  them  to  take  your  property  under  false  pretenses.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  the  general  conclusion  was,  that,  as  this  mission  party  had  suc 
ceeded  in  getting  thus  far  on  their  journey,  they  might  get  still  further, 
and  perhaps  (most  were  certain)  make  a  failure,  either  by  being  sent 
out  of  the  country  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  or  destroyed  by  the 
Indians.  Good  wishes  and  hopes  that  they  might  succeed  were  abundant 
from  all,  as  was  plainly  expressed,  and  a  disposition,  in  case  the  mission 
succeeded  in  establishing  themselves,  to  find  their  way  down  into  the 
Columbia  River  Valley  with  their  native  families,  and  become  settlers 
about  the  mission  stations.  Lightly  as  these  frank,  open  expressions 
of  good  wishes  and  future  ideas  of  the  mountain  hunter  may  appear, 
the  missionaries  saw  at  once  there  was  the  germ  of  a  future  people  to 
be  gathered  in  the  Columbia  River  Valley,  probably  of  a  mixed  race. 


OPPOSITION  OF  THE  COMPANY.  129 

These  men  had  all  abandoned  civilization  and  home  for  the  wild  hunter 
life  in  the  midst  of  the  mountains.  They  had  enjoyed  its  wild  sports, 
felt  its  fearful  dangers  and  sufferings,  and  become,  most  of  them,  con 
nected  with  native  women  —  a  large  proportion  of  them  with  the  Nez 
Perce  and  Flathead  tribes.  Their  family,  at  least,  could  be  benefited 
by  education,  and  taught  the  benefits  of  civilization  and  Christianity. 
The  men  had  expressed  kind  wishes,  good  feelings,  and  treated  them 
kindly  ;  why  should  they  not  include  this  class  of  men  and  their  families 
in  their  efforts  to  benefit  the  Indians  in  the  valleys  of  the  Columbia 


As  before  stated,  the  mission  party  had  been  introduced  by  Captain 
Wyeth  to  Mr.  John  McLeod,  a  gentleman  holding  the  rank  of  chief 
trader  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  He  had  frequent  interviews  and 
conversations  Avith  the  mission  party  while  at  rendezvous,  and  as  often 
as  any  of  these  mountain  men  met  him  at  the  mission  camp,  he  would 
leave  without  ceremony.  There  appeared  a  mutual  dislike,  a  sort  of 
hatred  between  them.  This  chief  trader  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany,  in  the  conversations  had  with  him,  informed  the  mission  party 
that  it  was  not  the  wish  of  the  company  to  encourage  any  of  these 
mountain  hunters  and  trappers  to  go  to  the  Columbia  River  to  settle, 
or  to  have  any  thing  to  do  with  them,  assigning  as  a  reason  that  they 
would  cause  trouble  and  difficulties  with  the  Indians.  He  also  gave 
them  to  understand  that  should  they  need  manual  labor,  or  men  to 
assist  them  in  putting  up  their  houses  and  making  their  improvements, 
the  company  would  prefer  to  furnish  it,  to  encouraging  these  men  in 
going  into  the  country.  This  intimation  was  distinctly  conveyed  to 
the  party,  with  the  advice  and  intimations  received  from  Captain 
Wyeth,  who  had  seen  and  understood  all  the  policy  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  and  had  been  compelled  to  sell  his  improvements  at 
Fort  Hall  to  this  same  McLeod,  and  his  goods  designed  for  the  trade 
to  Dr.  McLaughlin,  soon  after  their  arrival  in  the  country.  These  facts 
and  statements,  with  the  decided  manner  of  Mr.  McLeod,  compelled 
the  mission  party  to  defer  any  effort  for  these  mountain  men,  but  sub 
sequently  they  advised  the  sending  of  a  man  to  travel  with  their 
camps. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Missionaries  travel  in  company  with  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  party.— The  Lawyer's 
kindness. Arrival  at  Fort  Hall. — Description  of  the  country. — The  Salmon  In 
dians. — The  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  tariff. 

^  -  '• 

LETTERS  all  written  to  friends,  and  everybody  supposed  to  have  any 
particular  interest  in  the  person  or  individual  who  wrote  them ;  the 
letters  placed  in  the  hands  of  Captain  Wyeth  ;  mission  camp  over 
hauled  and  assorted  ;  all  goods  supposed  unnecessary,  or  that  could  be 
replaced,  such  as  irons  for  plows,  blacksmith's  tools,  useless  kettles,  etc., 
etc.,  disposed  of.  (All  articles  left,  the  party  were  careful  to  learn,  could 
be  had  at  Vancouver  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  or  Methodist 
Mission,  at  reasonable  prices.)  Tents  struck ;  good-byes  said ;  over  the 
party  goes  to  Horse  Creek,  not  far  from  the  Nez  Perce  camp,  where 
we  found  that  of  McLcod  and  McKay.  Soon  after  we  reached  camp, 
alon^  comes  Dr.  Whitman  with  his  wagon,  notwithstanding  all  parties 
and  persons,  except  the  Indians,  advised  him  to  leave  it.  He  was  lit 
erally  alone  in  his  determination  to  get  his  old  wagon  through  on  to 
the  waters  of  the  Columbia,  and  to  the  mission  station  that  might  be 
established  no  one  knew  where.  The  man  that  says  Dr.  Whitman  is 
fickle-minded,  knows  nothing  of  his  character  and  less  of  his  moral 
worth. 

Next  day,  all  camps,  including  those  of  the  Flathead  and  Nez  Perce 
Indians,  were  "  raised,"  as  the  expression  is,  and  on  we  went ;  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company  and  mission  camp,  or  caravan,  together,  Dr.  Whit 
man  in  charge  of  his  wagon,  with  some  Indians  to  help  him.  They 
seemed  rather  to  get  the  Doctor's  ideas  of  this  chick-chick-shauile-Jcai- 
kash  (iron  rolling  carnage),  and  hunted  a  road  around  the  bad  places, 
and  helped  him  along  when  he  required  their  assistance.  Our  route 
was  nearly  the  same  as  the  great  overland  route  to  Bear  River  and 
Soda  Springs. 

Two  days  before  we  reached  Soda  Springs  one  of  the  mission  party 
became  quite  unwell,  and  unable  to  sit  upon  his  horse.  He  was  left,  at 
his  own  request,  on  a  little  stream,  while  the  caravan  passed  on  some 
six  miles  further  to  camp.  After  remaining  alone  and  resting  some 
two  hours,  The  Lawyer  and  an  Indian  companion  of  his  came  along, 
picked  up  the  sick  man,  put  him  upon  a  strong  horse,  got  on  behind 


HUMANITY  OF  AN  INDIAN. 

him,  and  held  him  on  till  they  reached  camp.  Dr.  Whitman  gave 
him  a  prescription,  which  relieved  him,  so  that  next  day  he  was  able 
to  continue  the  journey  with  the  camp.  This  transaction  has  always 
been  a  mystery  to  the  writer.  The  place  where  the  sick  man  was  left 
was  a  beautiful  stream,  and  a  good  place  for  a  camp  for  the  whole  car 
avan.  The  sick  man  was  wholly  unable  to  proceed ;  did  not  ask  the 
caravan  to  stop  and  bury  him,  but  simply  informed  them  he  could  pro 
ceed  no  further ;  his  strength  was  gone ;  they  could  leave  him  to  die 
alone  if  they  chose.  A  word  from  McLeod  would  have  stopped  the 
caravan.  Should  the  mission  party  remain  with  him  ?  He  said :  "  Xo  ; 
go  on  with  the  caravan  and  leave  me ;  you  will  be  compelled  to  seek 
your  own  safety  in  continuing  with  the  caravan  ;  I  am  but  an  individ 
ual;  leave  me  to  my  fate."  He  requested  a  cup  that  he  might  get  some 
water  from  the  stream,  close  to  the  side  of  which  he  wished  them  to 
place  him.  Dr.  Whitman  remained  with  him  as  long  as  was  deemed 
safe  for  him,  and  passed  on  to  overtake  the  caravan.  The  Lawyer  and 
his  companion  came  along  two  or  three  hours  afterward,  picked  up 
the  dying  or  dead  man  (for  aught  the  caravan  knew),  and  brought 
him  into  camp.  My  impression  of  this  transaction  has  always  been 
that  McLeod  wished  to  get  rid  of  this  young  American,  who  was  then 
in  the  service  of  the  mission  party. 

"  That  d d  Indian,  Lawyer,"  as  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's 

men  called  him,  by  his  kindness  of  heart  and  determination  not  to 
let  an  American  die  if  he  could  help  it,  defeated  the  implied  wish 
of  these  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  men  in  this  case.  The  Lawyer  says 
the  sick  man  vomited  all  the  way  into  camp,  and  called  for  water, 
which  his  young  man  got  for  him. 

From  the  Soda  Springs  the  Indian  camps  went  north  into  the  moun 
tains  for  buffalo. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  mission  party  continued  their 
journey  through  the  spurs  of  the  mountains  over  on  to  the  waters  of 
the  Portneuf  to  Fort  Hall.  It  is  due  to  Dr.  Whitman  to  say  that  not 
withstanding  this  was  the  most  difficult  route  we  had  to  travel,  yet 
he  persevered  with  his  old  wagon,  without  any  particular  assistance ; 
from  Soda  Springs  to  Fort  Hall  his  labor  was  immense,  yet  he  over 
came  every  difficulty  and  brought  it  safe  through.  I  have  thrice  since 
traveled  the  same  route,  and  confess  I  can  not  see  how  he  did  it,  not 
withstanding  I  was  with  him,  and  know  he  brought  the  wagon  through. 

Fort  Hall,  in  1836,  was  a  stockade,  made  of  cotton-wood  logs,  about 
twelve  feet  long,  set  some  two  feet  in  the  ground,  with  a  piece  of  timber 
pinned  near  the  top,  running  entirely  around  the  stockade,  which  was 
about  sixty  feet  square.  The  stores  and  quarters  for  the  men  were 


132  HISTORY  OP  OREGON". 

built  inside  with  poles,  brush,  grass,  arid  dirt  for  covering,  stamped 
down  so  as  to  partially  shed  rain,  and  permit  the  guards  to  be  upon 
the  tops  of  the  quarters  and  see  over  the  top  of  the  stockade.  It  is 
situated  on  an  extensive  level  plain  or  flat,  with  spurs  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  on  the  east,  at  the  distance  of  thirty  miles,  high  ranges 
of  barren  sage  hills  on  the  south,  some  eight  miles  distant.  As  you 
leave  the  flat  level  bottom  formed  by  the  Snake  and  Portneuf  rivers, 
all  along  its  banks  it  is  skirted  with  a  fine  growth  of  cotton-wood,  re 
lieving  the  landscape  and  forming  a  beautiful  contrast  to  the  high  bar 
ren  plains  beyond.  To  the  west  is  the  valley  of  the  Snake  River,  from 
thirty  to  sixty  miles  wide,  a  high,  sandy,  and  barren  sage  plain.  This 
valley  is  bounded  on  the  south  by  a  low  range  of  hills,  running  from 
northwest  to  southeast.  On  the  north  side  of  Fort  Hall  is  an  extensive 
high  plain ;  this  plain  is,  from  Fort  Hall,  across  it,  full  forty  miles. 
The  only  objects  that  meet  the  eye  on  this  extensive  plain  are  three  high 
basaltic  buttes  or  mountains  thrown  up  near  its  center.  At  the  foot 
of  the  one  a  little  to  the  south  and  west  of  the  two  rounder  and  equally 
prominent  ones,  is  a  fine  spring  of  water.  In  1837,  the  writer,  in  his 
explorations  of  the  country,  was  anxious  to  learn  more  than  was 
then  known  of  the  character  of  this  great  basin  in  the  mountains, 
having  the  year  previous  entered  it  by  way  of  Soda  Springs  and  Port 
neuf.  This  time  he  came  into  it  from  the  north  by  Codie's  Defile,  and 
concluded  he  would  take  a  straight  course  and  pass  between  the  two 
northeastern  buttes,  and  reach  Snake  River  near  Fort  Hall.  His  Indian 
guide  objected ;  still,  as  we  had  good  horses,  and  were  traveling  light, 
we  took  the  precaution  to  water  our  animals  before  entering  this  plain. 
We  were  twenty-six  hours  on  horseback,  having  stopped  but  six  hours 
to  rest;  we  tied  our  horses  to  the  sage  brush,  to  prevent  them  from 
leaving  us  to  hunt  for  water.  Not  a  drop  did  we  find  on  our  route 
till  we  reached  Snake  River,  thirty-two  hours  from  the  time  we  left 
running  water  on  the  north  and  west  sides  of  this  plain.  In  our  course 
we  found  nothing  but  barren,  basaltic  rock,  sand,  and  sage.  It  is  pos 
sible,  had  we  turned  to  the  right  or  left,  we  might  have  found  water, 
but  I  saw  nothing  that  gave  indications  that  water  was  near ;  on  the 
contrary,  I  noticed  that  the  fine  stream  at  which  we  watered  our  ani 
mals  sank  into  the  rocks,  leaving  no  marks  of  a  channel  to  any  great 
distance.  In  fact,  my  impression  was,  after  twelve  hours'  ride,  that  it 
was  useless  to  spend  our  time  and  strength  to  hunt  for  water,  and  kept 
our  course.  Jaded  and  fatigued  as  our  animals  were,  as  we  approached 
Snake  River  every  nerve  seemed  strung  to  the  utmost ;  our  animals 
became  frantic  and  unmanageable  ;  they  rushed  forward  at  full  speed 
and  plunged  into  the  first  water  they  saw.  Fortunately  for  them  and 


LIGHTENING  BAGGAGE. 

the  riders,  the  water  was  only  about  three  feet  deep ;  water  appeared 
to  be  preferred  to  air ;  they  plunged  their  heads  deep  in  and  held  their 
breaths  till  their  thirst  was  relieved. 

This  plain  is  bounded  on  the  north  and  east  by  spurs  of  the  Rocky 
and  Bear  River  mountains  ;  on  the  south  and  west  by  the  high  plains 
of  Portneuf  and  Snake  River  valleys.  There  is  a  range  of  mountains 
commencing  on  the  northwest  of  this  plain,  extending  west  and  north 
along  Snake  River,  dividing  the  waters  of  the  Snake  and  La  Riviere 
aux  Bois  (the  wooded  river.)  This  whole  plain  has  the  appearance 
of  having  been  one  vast  lake  of  lava,  spread  over  the  whole  sur 
rounding  country,  appearing  to  have  issued  from  the  three  basaltic 
mountains  in  the  midst  of  it.  I  noticed,  as  we  passed  between  the 
two,  which  were  probably  not  more  than  ten  miles  apart,  that  we  ap 
peared  to  be  on  higher  rock  than  in  any  direction  around  us.  From 
this  fact  I  concluded  that  the  three  must  have  been  pouring  out  their 
volcanic  lava  at  the  same  time  and  ceased  together,  leaving  the  coun 
try  comparatively  level.  The  small  amount  of  soil  found  upon  the  sur 
face,  as  well  as  the  barrenness  of  the  rock,  indicated  no  distant  period 
of  time  when  this  volcanic  plain  had  been  formed. 

At  Fort  Hall  we  had  another  overhauling  and  lio-htenino-  of  ba^o-age. 

O  O  O  OO     £D 

The  Doctor  was  advised  to  take  his  wagon  apart  and  pack  it,  if  he  cal 
culated  to  get  it  through  the  terrible  canons  and  deep,  bottomless 
creeks  we  must  pass  in  going  down  Snake  Plains.  Miles  Goodyear,  the 
boy  we  picked  up  two  days  from  Fort  Leavenworth,  who  had  been 
assigned  to  assist  the  Doctor,  was  determined,  if  the  Doctor  took  his 
wagon  any  further,  to  leave  the  company.  He  was  the  only  one  that 
could  be  spared  to  assist  in  this  wild,  and,  as  all  considered,  crazy  un 
dertaking.  Miles  was  furnished  a  couple  of'horses,  and  the  best  outfit 
the  mission  party  could  give  him  for  his  services,  and  allowed  to  remain 
or  go  where  he  might  choose.  In  his  conclusions,  he  was  influenced 
by  the  stories  he  heard  about  the  treatment  he  might  expect  should  he 
reach  the  lower  Columbia.  His  idea  of  liberty  was  unlimited.  Restraint 
and  obedience  to  others  was  what  he  did  not  like  at  home ;  he  would 
try  his  fortune  in  the  mountains;  he  did  not  care  for  missionaries, 
Hudson's  Bay  men,  nor  Indians ;  he  was  determined  to  be  his  own  man, 
and  was  allowed  to  remain  at  Fort  Hall.  This  loss  of  manual  strength 
to  the  mission  party  compelled  the  Doctor  to  curtail  his  wagon,  so  he 
made  a  cart  on  two  of  the  wheels,  placed  the  axletree  and  the  other 
two  wheels  on  his  cart,  and  about  the  1st  of  August,  1836,  our  camp 
was  again  in  motion.  As  we  reached  camp  on  Portneuf  the  first  night, 
in  passing  a  bunch  of  willows,  Mrs.  Spalding's  horse,  a  kind  and  per 
fectly  gentle  animal,  was  stung  by  a  wasp,  causing  him  to  spring  to 


134:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

one  side.  Mrs.  S.  lost  her  balance  ;  her  foot  hung  fast  in  the  stirrup  ; 
the  horse  made  but  a  single  bound  from  the  sting  of  the  wasp,  and 
stopped  still  till  Mrs.  S.  was  relieved  from  what  appeared  almost  instant 
death.  Next  day  we  continued  on  down  the  'river  till  we  reached 
Salmon  Falls,  on  Snake  River. 

We  found  a  large  number  of  the  Salmon  and  Digger  Indians  at  their 
fishing  stations.  Their  curiosity  was  excited,  and  overcame  all*  the 
fears  that  had  been  attributed  to  them  by  former  travelers.  All  of 
them  came  about  the  camp,  and  appeared  quite  friendly,  furnishing  to 
the  party  all  the  fresh  and  dried  salmon  they  wanted,  at  the  most 
reasonable  rates,  say  a  fine  fresh  salmon  for  two  fish-hooks ;  four  for  a 
common  butcher-knife ;  ten  dried  ones  for  a  shirt ;  in  fact,  receiving 
only  such  pay  or  presents  for  their  fish  and  roots,  as  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company's  traders  saw  fit,  or  would  allow  the  missionary  party  to  give 
them.  It  will  be  remembered  that,  in  the  conversation  with  Captain 
"YVyeth,  the  party  had  been  cautioned  as  to  dealing  with  the  Indians, 
or  in  any  way  interfering  with  the  Indian  trade,  or  tariff,  as  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company  gentlemen  call  the  prices  they  were  in  the  habit 
of  giving  to  the  Indians,  for  any  article  of  property  they  might  have  to 
dispose  of,  or  that  the  company  might  want.  If  the  Indian  would  part 
with  it  at  all,  he  must  receive  the  price  or  the  article  they  chose  to  give 
him,  not  as  an  equivalent  for  his  article,  but  as  a  condescension  on  the 
part  of  the  trader,  in  allowing  him  the  honor  of  making  the  exchange. 
The  Indian's  property  or  article,  whatever  it  might  be,  was  of  no  con 
sequence  to  the  trader,  but  the  article  he  gave  or  furnished  to  him  was 
of  great  value.  The  Indian  knew  no  other  system  of  trade  ;  it  was  that 
or  nothing  ;  hence  the  wealth  of  this  arrogant  and  overgrown  company, 
claiming  exclusive  trading  privileges,  as  also  the  right  to  occupy  the 
country  in  such  a  manner,  and  for  such  purposes  as  they  chose.  As  a 
matter  of  course,  the  mission  party  were  not  in  a  condition  to  vary  or 
change  this  system  of  trade  ;  neither  were  they  allowed  to  encourage 
the  Indians  in  the  expectation  of  any  future  change,  except  as  to  the 
relig-ious  instructions  they  were  at  liberty  to  impart  to  them. 

The  gentlemen  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  were  frank  with  the 
mission  in  giving  them  their  tariff:  For  a  salmon  at  Salmon  Falls,  two 
awls  or  two  small  fish-hooks ;  one  large  hook  for  two  salmon  ;  for  a  knife, 
four  salmon ;  for  one  load  of  powder  and  a  charge  of  shot,  or  a  single 
ball,  one  salmon.  At  Wallawalla  the  tariff  was  nearly  double,  say  two 
balls  and  powder  for  one  large-sized  salmon ;  a  three-point  blanket,  a 
check  shirt,  a  knife,  five  or  ten  balls  and  powder,  from  half  a  foot  to  three 
feet  of  trail-rope  tobacco,  the  price  of  a  good  horse.  In  short,  there  was 
but  one  single  object  the  Indian  could  live  for;  that  was  to  contribute  his 


TRADING  WITH  INDIANS.  135 

little  mite  of  productive  labor  to  enrich  the  Honorable  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  and  to  assist  them,  when  required,  to  relieve  the  country  of 
intruders.  That  they  were  in  a  state  of  absolute  subjection  to  the  con 
trol  of  the  company  no  one  that  traveled  in  it  at  that  early  day  can 
doubt  for  a  moment.  Speak  of  improving  the  condition  of  the  Indians 
to  gentlemen  of  the  company,  they  would  insist  that  it  only  made 
them  more  insolent,  demand  higher  prices  for  their  produce,  and  be 
less  inclined  to  hunt  for  the  furs  necessary  to  supply  the  goods  furnished 
for  their  use.  The  idea  of  improving  the  condition  of  the  Indian,  and 
raising  him  in  the  scale  of  civilization,  and  by  that  means  increase  his 
natural  wants,  and  encourage  him  with  a  fair  compensation  for  his  labor,  * 
was  no  part  of  their  chartered  privileges.  They  found  the  Indian  as  he 
was ;  they  would  leave  him  no  better.  The  country  and  all  in  it  was 
theirs ;  they  could  not  allow  any  interference  with  their  trade.  "  If  you 
missionaries  wish  to  teach  them  your  religion,  we  have  no  particular 
objection,  so  long  as  you  confine  yourselves  to  such  religious  instruc 
tion  ;  as  to  trade,  gentlemen,  we  will  not  object  to  your  receiving  from 
the  Indians  what  you  may  require  for  your  own  personal  use  and  sub 
sistence,  provided  you  do  not  pay  them  more  for  the  article  you  buy 
of  them  than  the  company  does.  We  will  give  you  our  tariff,  that  you 
may  be  governed  by  it  in  your  dealings  with  the  Indians.  You  will 
readily  perceive,  gentlemen,  that  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  insist  on  these 
conditions,  in  order  to  protect  our  own  interests,  and  secure  our  accus 
tomed  profits." 


CHAPTER  XV1L 

An  explanation. — Instructions  of  company. — Their  tyranny. — Continuation  of  journey. — 
Fording  rivers. — Arrival  at  Boise. — Dr.  "Whitman  compelled  to  leave  his  wagon. 

IT  may  be  asked  why  the  writer  gives  this  explanation  of  trade  and 
intercourse  with  the  Indians  and  missionaries  before  they  have  reached 
the  field  of  their  future  labors  ?  For  the  simple  reason  that  the  party, 
and  the  writer  in  particular,  commenced  their  education  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  They  learned  that  in  the  country  to  which  they  were  going 
there  was  an  overgrown,  unscrupulous,  and  exacting  monopoly  that 
would  prevent  any  interference  in  their  trade,  or  intercourse  with  the 
Indians.  This  information  was  receive^  through  the  American  fur 
traders,  and  from  Captain  Wyeth,  who  was  leaving  the  country ;  and 
from  Mr.  John  McLeod,  then  in  charge  of  our  traveling  caravan.  It  is 
true,  we  had  only  reached  Salmon  Falls,  on  Snake  River,  and  we  only 
wished  to  buy  of  the  miserable,  naked,  filthy  objects  before  us,  a  few 
fresh  salmon,  which  they  were  catching  in  apparent  abundance;  and 
as  is  the  case  with  most  American  travelers,  we  had  many  articles  that 
would  be  valuable  to  the  Indian,  and  beneficial  to  us  to  get  rid  of.  But 
this  overgrown  company's  interest  comes  in.  "  You  must  not  be  lib 
eral,  or  even  just,  to  these  miserable  human  or  savage  beings;  if  you 
are,  it  will  spoil  our  trade  with  them ;  we  can  not  control  them  if  they 
learn  the  value  of v  our  goods." 

This  supreme  selfishness,  this  spirit  of  oppression,  was  applied  not 
only  to  the  Digger  Indians  on  the  barren  Snake  plains  and  the  salmon 
fisheries  of  the  Columbia  River,  but  to  the  miserable  discharged,  and,  in 
most  cases,  disabled,  Canadian-French.  This  policy  tlje  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  practiced  upon  their  own  servants,  and,  as  far  as  was  possi 
ble,  upon  all  the  early  settlers  of  the  country.  In  proof  of  this,  hear 
what  Messrs.  Ewing  Young  and  Carmichael  say  of  them  on  the  thir 
teenth  day  of  January,  1837,  just  three  months  after  our  mission  party 
had  arrived,  and  had  written  to  their  friends  and  patrons  in  the  United 
States  glowing  accounts  of  the  kind  treatment  they  had  received  from 
this  same  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  How  far  the  Methodist  Mission 
joined  in  the  attempt  to  coerce  Mr.  Young  and  compel  him  to  place 
himself  under  their  control,  I  am  unable  to  say.  The  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  I  know,  from  the  statement  of  Dr.  McLaughlin  himself,  had 


MR.    YOUNG'S  LETTER.  "13Y 

an  abundance  of  liquors.  I  also  know  they  were  in  the  habit  of  fur 
nishing  them  freely  to  the  Indians,  as  they  thought  the  interest  of  their 
trade  required.  Mr.  Young's  letter  is  in  answer  to  a  request  of  the 
Methodist  Mission,  signed  by  J.  and  D.  Lee,  C.  Shepard,  and  P.  L. 
Edwards,  not  to  erect  a  distillery  on  his  land  claim  in  Yamhill  County 
(Nealem  Valley).  The  Methodist  Mission  was  made  use  of  on  this  occa 
sion,  under  the  threat  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  that  in  case  Mr. 
Young  put  up  his  distillery  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  would  freely 
distribute  their  liquors,  and  at  once  destroy  all  moral  restraint,  and 
more  than  probable  the  mission  itself.  Lee  and  party  offered  to  indem 
nify  Mr.  Young  for  his  loss  in  stopping  his  distillery  project.  The 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  held  by  this  means  the  exclusive  liquor  trade, 
while  the  mission  were  compelled  to  use  their  influence  and  ..means  to 
prevent  and  buy  off  any  enterprise  that  conflicted  with  their  interests. 
Mr.  Young  says,  in  his  reply : — 

"  Gentlemen,  having  taken  into  consideration  your  request  to  relin 
quish  our  enterprise  in  manufacturing  ardent  spirits,  we  therefore  do 
agree  to  stop  our  proceedings  for  the  present ;  but,  gentlemen,  the  rea 
sons  for  first  beginning  such  an  enterprise  were  the  innumerable  diffi 
culties  placed  in  our  way  by,  and  the  tyrannizing  oppression  of,  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  here  under  the  absolute  authority  of  Dr. 
McLaughlin,  who  has  treated  us  with  more  disdain  than  any  American's 
feelings  could  support ;  but,  gentlemen,  it  is  not  consistent  with  our 
feelings  to  receive  any  recompense  whatever  for  our  expenditures,  but 
we  are  thankful  to  the  society  for  their  offer." 

The  writer  of  the  above  short  paragraph  has  long  since  closed  his 
labors,  which,  with  his  little  property,  have  done  more  substantial  ben 
efit  to  Oregon  than  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  that  attempted  to 
drive  him  from  the  country,  which  I  will  prove  to  the  satisfaction  of 
any  unprejudiced  mind  as  we  proceed.  I  am  fully  aware  of  the  great 
number  of  pensioned  satellites  that  have  fawned  for  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  pap,  and  would  swear  no  injustice  was  ever  done  to  a  single 
American,  giving  this  hypocritical,  double-dealing,  smooth-swindling, 
called  honorable,  Hudson's  Bay  Company  credit  for  what  they  never 
did,  and  really  for  stealing  credit  for  good  deeds  done  by  others.  The 
company  insisted  that  the  mission  party  should,  as  a  condition  of  being 
permitted  to  remain  in  the  country,  comply  with  their  ideas  of  Indian 
trade  and  justice  in  dealing  with  the  natives.  The  utmost  care  and 
attention  was  given  to  impress  this  all-important  fact  upon  the  minds 
of  these  first  missionaries.  They  were  told :  "  Gentlemen,  your  own 
pecuniary  interests  require  it ;  the  good — yes,  the  good — of  the  natives 
you  came  to  teach,  requires  that  you  should  observe  our  rules  in  trade." 


138-  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

And  here,  I  have  no  doubt,  lies  the  great  secret  of  the  partial  failure  of 
all  the  Protestant  missions.  But,  thank  God,  the  country  is  relieved  of 
a  curse,  like  that  of  slavery  in  the  Southern  States.  An  overgrown 
monopoly,  in  using  its  influence  with  Catholicism  to  destroy  Protest 
antism  in  Oregon  and  the  American  settlements,  has  destroyed  itself. 
Priestcraft  and  Romanism,  combined  with  ignorance  and  savagism, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Honorable  Hudson's  Bay  Company  traders, 
is  a  kind  of  mixture  which  Mr.  Ewing  Young  says  "  is  more  than  any 
American  citizen's  feelings  could  support ;"  yet  for  six  years  it  was  sub 
mitted  to,  and  the  country  increased,  not  so  much  in  wealth,  but  in 
stout-hearted  men  and  women,  who  had  dared  every  thing,  and  endured 
many  living  deaths,  to  secure  homes,  and  save  a  vast  and  rich  country 
to  the  American  Republic.  Was  the  government  too  liberal  in  giving 
these  pioneers  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  when,  by  their 
toil  and  patient  endurance  they  had  suifered  every  thing  this  arrogant, 
unscrupulous,  overgrown  monopoly  could  inflict,  by  calling  to  its  aid 
superstition  and  priestcraft,  in  the  worst  possible  form,  to  subdue  and 
drive  them  from  the  country  ? 

Is  there  an  American  on  this  coast  who  doubts  the  fact  of  the  tyran 
nical  course  of  the  company?  Listen  to  what  is  said  of  them  in 
1857,  '58,  in  their  absolute  government  of  Vancouver  Island  and  British 
Columbia,  by  a  resident.  He  says : — 

"  In  my  unsophisticated  ignorance,  I  foolishly  imagined  I  was  enter 
ing  a  colony  governed  by  British  institutions ;  but  I  was  quickly  un 
deceived.  It  was  far  worse  than  a  Venetian  oligarchy ;  a  squawtocracy 
of  skin  traders,  ruled  by  men  whose  lives  have  been  spent  in  the  wil 
derness  in  social  communion  with  Indian  savages,  their  present  daily 
occupation  being  the  sale  of  tea,  sugar,  whisky,  and  the  usual  et  cceteras 
of  a  grocery,  which  (taking  advantage  of  an  increased  population)  they 
sold  at  the  small  advance  of  five  hundred  per  cent. ;  by  men,  who,  to 
keep  up  the  entente  cordiale  with  the  red-skins,  scrupled  not  (and  the 
iniquitous  practice  is  still  continued)  to  supply  them  with  arms  and 
ammunition,  well  knowing  that  the  same  would  be  used  in  murderous 
warfare.  I  found  these  'small  fry'  claiming,  under  some  antediluvian 
grant,  not  only  Vancouver  Island,  but  a  tract  of  country  extending  from 
the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  from  British  Columbia  to  Hudson's 
Bay — a  territory  of  larger  area  than  all  Europe.  The  onward  march  of 
civilization  was  checked;  all  avenues  to  the  mineral  regions  were  closed 
by  excessive,  unauthorized,  and  illegal  taxation ;  and  a  country  abounding 
with  a  fair  share  of  Nature's  richest  productions,  and  which  might  now 
be  teeming  with  a  hardy  and  industrious  population,  was  crushed  and 
blasted  by  a  set  of  unprincipled  autocrats,  whose  selfish  interests,  idle 


OPPRESSION  OF  THE  COMPANY. 

caprices,  and  unscrupulous  conduct,  sought  to  gratify  their  petty  am 
bition  by  trampling  on  the  dearest  rights  of  their  fellow-men.  In  Vic 
toria  and  British  Columbia  the  town  lots,  the  suburban  farms,  and  the 
water  frontage  were  theirs, — the  rocks  in  the  bay,  and  the  rocks  on  the 
earth ;  the  trees  in  the  streets,  which  served  as  ornaments  to  the  town, 
were  cut  down  by  their  orders  and  sold  for  fire-wood  ;  with  equal  right 
(presumption  or  unscrupulousness  is  the  appropriate  term)  they  claimed 
the  trees  and  dead  timber  of  the  forests,  the  waters  of  the  bay,  and  the 
fresh  water  on  the  shores;  all,  all  was  theirs;— nay,  I  have  seen  the 
water  running  from  the  mountain  springs  denied  to  allay  the  parched 
thirst  of  the  poor  wretches  whom  the  auri  sacra  fames  had  allured  to 
these  inhospitable  shores.  They  viewed  with  a  jealous  eye  all  intruders 
into  their  unknown  kingdom,  and  every  impediment  was  thrown  in  the 
way  of  improving  or  developing  the  resources  of  the  colony.  The  coal 
mines  were  theirs,  and  this  necessary  article  of  fuel  in  a  northern 
climate  was  held  by  them  at  thirty  dollars  per  ton.  The  sole  and  ex 
clusive  right  to  trade  was  theirs,  and  the  claim  rigidly  enforced.  The 
gold  fields  were  theirs  likewise,  and  a  tax  of  five  dollars  on  every  man, 
and  eight  dollars  on  every  canoe  or  boat,  was  levied  and  collected  at 
the  mouth  of  the  canon  before  either  were  allowed  to  enter  the  sacred 
portals  of  British  Columbia.  This  amount  had  to  be  paid  hundreds 
of  miles  from  the  place  where  gold  was  said  to  exist,  whether  the 
party  ever  dug  an  ounce  or  not.  They  looked  upon  all  new  arrivals 
with  ill-subdued  jealousy  and  suspicion,  and  distrusted  them  as  a  pra3- 
torian  band  of  robbers  coming  to  despoil  them  of  their  ill-gotten 
wealth." 

"Was  this  the  case  in  1858  ?  Show  me  the  man  who  denies  it,  and  I 
will  show  you  a  man  devoid  of  moral  perception,  destitute  of  the  prin 
ciple  of  right  dealing  between  man  and  man ;  yet  this  same  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  claim  credit  for  saving  the  thousands  of  men  they  had 
robbed  of  their  hard  cash,  in  not  allowing  a  few  sacks  of  old  flour  and 
a  quantity  of  damaged  bacon  to  be  sold  to  exceed  one  hundred  per 
cent,  above  prime  cost.  "  Their  goods  were  very  reasonable,"  says  the 
apologist;  "their  trade  was  honorable."  Has  any  one  ever  before  at 
tempted  to  claim  honorable  dealing  for  companies  pursuing  invariably  the 
same  selfish  and  avaricious  course  ?  This  company  is  not  satisfied  with 
the  privilege  they  have  had  of  robbing  the  natives  of  this  coast,  their 
French  and  half-native  servants,  the  American  settlers,  and  their  own 
countrymen,  while  dependent  upon  them;  but  now,  when  they  can  no 
longer  rob  and  steal  from  half  a  continent,  they  come  to  our  govern 
ment  at  Washington  and  make  a  demand  for  five  millions  of  dollars  for 
giving  up  this  barefaced  open  robbery  of  a  whole  country  they  never 


140  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

had  the  shadow  of  a  right  to.  It  is  possible  the  honorable  commis 
sioners  may  admit  this  arrogant  and  unjust  claim.  If  they  do, — one 
single  farthing  of  it, — they  deserve  the  curses  due  to  the  company  who 
have  robbed  the  native  inhabitants  of  all  their  labor,  their  own  servants 
they  brought  to  it,  the  country  of  all  they  could  get  from  it  that  was 
of  any  value  to  them,  and  the  nation  upon  whom  they  call  for  any 
amount,  be  it  great  or  small. 

I  have  not  time,  and  it  would  be  out  of  place,  to  say  more  upon 
this  subject,  at  this  time,  in  the  historical  sketches  we  propose  to  give. 
Be  assured  we  do  not  write  without  knowing  what  we  say,  and  being 
prepared  to  prove  our  statements  with  facts  that  have  come  under  our 
own  observation  while  in  the  country.  We  will  leave  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  and  return  to  our  mission  party. 

After  getting  a  full  supply  of  salmon  for  a  tin  whistle,  or  its  equiva 
lent,  a  smell  of  trail-rope  tobacco,  we  came  to  the  ford  at  the  three 
islands  in  Snake  River,  crossed  all  safe,  except  a  short  swim  for  Dr. 
Whitman  and  his  cart  on  corning  out  on  the  north  side  or  right  bank 
of  the  river.  As  nothing  serious  occurred,  wre  passed  on  to  camp. 
The  next  day,  in  passing  along  the  foot  hills  of  the  range  of  mountains 
separating  the  waters  of  the  Snake  River  and  La  Riviere  aux  Bois,  we 
came  to  the  warm  springs,  in  which  we  boiled  a  piece  of  salmon.  Then 
we  struck  the  main  Boise  River,  as  it  comes  out  of  the  mountain, 
not  far  below  the  present  location  of  Boise  City ;  thence,  about  ten 
miles  down  the  river,  and  into  the  bend,  where  we  found  a  miserable 
pen  of  a  place,  at  that  time  called  Fort  Boise.  It  consisted  of  cotton- 
wood  poles  and  crooked  sticks  set  in  a  trench,  and  pretended  to  be 
fastened  near  the  top.  The  houses  or  quarters  were  also  of  poles, 
open  ;  in  fact,  the  whole  concern  could  hardly  be  called  a  passable 
corral,  or  pen  for  horses  and  cattle.  I  think,  from  appearances,  the  fort 
had  been  used  to  corral  or  catch  horses  in.  We  were  informed  that 
it  was  established  in  opposition  to  Fort  Hall,  to  prevent  the  Indians,  as 
much  as  possible,  from  giving  their  trade  to  Captain  Wyeth,  and  that 
the  company  expected,  if  they  kept  it  up,  to  remove  it  near  the  mouth 
of  Boise  River. 

At  this  place,  McLeod  and  McKay,  and  all  the  Johnny  Crapauds  of 
the  company,  united  in  the  opinion  that  it  was  impossible  to  get  the 
Doctor's  cart  any  further  without  taking  it  all  apart  and  bending  the 
iron  tires  on  the  wheels,  and  packing  it  in  par-fleshes  (the  dried  hide 
of  the  buffalo,  used  as  an  outside  covering  for  packs),  and  in  that  way 
we  might  get  it  through,  if  the  animals  we  packed  it  upon  did  not  fall 
with  it  from  the  precipices  over  which  we  must  pass.  Impossible  to 
get  it  through  any  other  way.  After  several  consultations,  and  some 


SNAKE  RIVER  FORDED.  ^ 

very  decided  expressions  against  any  further  attempt  to  take  the 
wagon  further,  a  compromise  was  made,  that,  after  the  party  had 
reached  their  permanent  location,  the  Doctor  or  Mr.  Gray  would  return 
with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  caravan  and  get  the  wagon  and 
bring  it  through.  To  this  proposition  the  Doctor  consented.  The 
wagon  was  left,  to  the  great  advantage  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
in  removing  their  timber  and  material  to  build  their  new  fort,  as  was 
contemplated,  that  and  the  following  seasons. 

All  our  goods  were  placed  upon  the  tallest  horses  we  had,  and  led 
across.  Mrs.  Spalding  and  Mrs.  Whitman  were  ferried  over  on  a  bul 
rush  raft,  made  by  the  Indians  for  crossing.  The  tops  of  the  rushes 
were  tied  with  grass  ropes,  and  spread  and  so  arranged  that,  by  lying 
quite  flat  upon  the  rushes  and  sticks  they  were  conveyed  over  in  safety. 
Portions  of  our  clothing  and  goods,  as  was  expected,  came  in  contact 
with  the  water,  and  some  delay  caused  to  dry  and  repack.  This 
attended  to,  the  party  proceeded  on  the  present  wagon  trail  till  they 
reached  the  Grand  Ronde;  thence  they  ascended  the  mountain  on  the 
west  side  of  the  main  river,  passed  over  into  a  deep  canon,  through 
thick  timber,  ascended  the  mountain,  and  came  out  on  to  the  Urnatilla, 
not  far  from  the  present  wagon  route. 

As  the  party  began  to  descend  from  the  western  slope  of  the  Blue 
Mountains,  the  view  was  surpassingly  grand.  Before  us  lay  the  great 
valley  of  the  Columbia ;  on  the  west,  and  in  full  view,  Mount  Hood 
rose  amid  the  lofty  range  of  the  Cascade  Mountains,  ninety  miles  dis 
tant.  To  the  south  of  Mount  Hood  stood  Mount  Adams,  and  to  the 
north,  Mount  Rainier ;  while,  with  the  assistance  of  Mr.  McKay,  we 
could  trace  the  course  of  the  Columbia,  and  determine  the  location  of 
Walla  walla.  It  was  quite  late  in  the  evening  before  we  reached  camp 
on  the  Umatilla,  being  delayed  by  our  cattle,  their  feet  having  become 
worn  and  tender  in  passing  over  the  sharp  rocks,  there  being  but  little 
signs  of  a  trail  where  we  passed  over  the  Blue  Mountains  in  1836. 


CHAPTER   XVIIL 

Arrival  at  Fort  "Wallawalla.  —  Reception.  —  The  fort  in  1836.  —  Voyage  down  the  Colum 
bia  River.  —  Portage  at  Celilo.  —  At  Dalles.  —  A  storm.  —  The  Flatlieads.  —  Portage  at 
the  Cascades. 


day  Mr.  McLeod  left  the  train  in  charge  of  Mr.  McKay,  and 
started  for  the  fort,  having  obtained  a  fresh  horse  from  the  Cayuse  In 
dians.  The  party,  with  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  furs  and  mission 
cattle,  traveled  slowly,  and  in  two  days  and  a  half  reached  old  Fort 
Wallawalla,  on  the  Columbia  River,  —  on  the  second  day  of  Septem 
ber,  1836,  a  little  over  four  months  from  the  time  they  left  Missouri. 
Traveling  by  time  from  two  to  three  miles  per  hour,  making  it  two 
thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles. 

Their  reception  must  have  been  witnessed  to  be  fully  realized.  The 
gates  of  the  fort  were  thrown  open,  the  ladies  assisted  from  their 
horses,  and  every  demonstration  of  joy  and  respect  manifested.  The 
party  were  soon  led  into  an  apartment,  the  best  the  establishment  had 
to  offer.  Their  horses  and  mules  were  unloaded  and  cared  for  ;  the  cat 
tle  were  not  neglected.  It  appeared  we  had  arrived  among  the  best  of 
friends  instead  of  total  strangers,  and  were  being  welcomed  home  in 
the  most  cordial  manner.  We  found  the  gentleman  in  charge,  Mr.  P. 
C.  Pambrun,  a  French-Canadian  by  birth,  all  that  we  could  wish,  and 
more  than  we  expected. 

Mr.  J.  K.  Townsend,  the  naturalist,  we  found  at  Wallawalla.  He  had 
been  sent  across  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  company  with  ]J)r.  Nutall,  a 
geologist,  by  a  society  in  Philadelphia,  in  1834,  in  company  with  Cap 
tain  Wyoth.  He  had  remained  in  the  country  to  complete  his  collec 
tion  of  specimens  of  plants  and  birds,  and  was  awaiting  the  return  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  ship,  to  reach  the  Sandwich  Islands,  on 
his  homeward  course,  having  failed  to  get  an  escort  to  connect  with 
Captain  Wyeth,  and  return  by  way  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  -From 
Mr.  Townsend  the  mission  party  received  much  useful  information  re 
lating  to  the  course  they  should  pursue  in  their  intercourse  with  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  Indians.  He  appeared  to  take  a  deep 
interest  in  the  objects  of  the  mission,  confirming,  from  his  own  obser 
vation,  the  information  already  received,  cautioning  the  party  not  to 
do  any  thing  with  the  Indians  that  would  interfere  with  the  Hudson's 


DUPLICITY  OF  THE  COMPANY. 

Bay  Company's  trade.  Repeating  almost  verbatim  Captain  Wyeth's 
words,  "  The  company  will  be  glad  to  have  you  in  the  country,  and 
your  influence  to  improve  their  servants,  and  their  native  wives  and 
children.  As  to  the  Indians  you  have  corne  to  teach,  they  do  not  want 
them  to  be  any  more  enlightened.  The  company  now  have  absolute 
control  over  them,  and  that  is  all  they  require.  As  to  Mr.  Pambrun,  at 
this  place,  he  is  a  kind,  good-hearted  gentleman,  and  will  do  any  thing 
he  can  for  you.  He  has  already  received  his  orders  in  anticipation  of 
your  arrival,  and  will  obey  them  implicitly ;  should  the  company  learn 
from  him,  or  any  other  source,  that  you  are  here  and  do  not  comply 
with  their  regulations  and  treatment  of  the  Indians,  they  will  cut  off 
your  supplies,  and  leave  you  to  perish  among  the  Indians  you  are  here 
to  benefit.  The  company  have  made  arrangements,  and  expect  you  to 
visit  Vancouver,  their  principal  depot  in  the  country,  before  you  select 
your  location." 

Mr.  Townsend  had  gathered  from  the  gentlemen  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  during  the  year  he  had  been  in  the  country,  a  good 
knowledge  of  their  policy,  and  of  their  manner  of  treatment  and  trade 
with  the  Indians.  He  had  also  learned  from  conversations  with  Rev. 
Samuel  Parker  and  the  various  members  of  the  company,  their  views 
and  feelings,  not  only  toward  American  traders,  but  of  the  missionary 
occupation  of  the  country  by  the  Americans.  The  mission  party  of 
1836  learned  from  Mr.  McLeod  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had 
sent  for  a  chaplain,  to  be  located  at  Vancouver,  and  from  Mr.  Town- 
send  that  he  had  arrived. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  honorable  company,  on  the  arrival 
of  Rev.  J.  Lee  and  party  to  look  after  the  civil  and  religious  welfare  of 
the  Indians,  examined  their  old  charter,  and  found  that  one  of  its  re 
quirements  was  to  Christianize  as  Well  as  trade  with  the  natives  of  this 
vast  country.  They  found  that  the  English  church  service  must  be 
read  at  their  posts  on  the  Sabbath.  To  conform  to  this  regulation,  a 
chaplain  was  sent  for.  He  came,  with  his  wife ;  and  not  receiving  the 
submission  and  attention  from  the  chivalry  of  the  country  he  demanded, 
became  thoroughly  disgusted,  and  returned  to  England  (I  think)  on  the 
same  ship  he  came  in.  As  we  proceed,  we  will  develop  whys  and 
wherefores. 

Old  Fort  Wallawalla,  in  1836,  when  the  mission  party  arrived,  was 
a  tolerably  substantial  stockade,  built  of  drift-wood  taken  from  the 
Columbia  River,  of  an  oblong  form,  with  two  log  bastions  raised,  one 
on  the  southwest  corner,  commanding  the  river-front  and  southern  space 
beyond  the  stockade ;  the  other  bastion  was  on  the  northeast  corner, 
commanding  the  north  end,  and  east  side  of  the  fort.  In  each  of  these 


14:4:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

bastions  were  kept  two  small  cannon,  with  a  good  supply  of  small-arms 
These  bastions  were  always  well  guarded  when  any  danger  was  sus 
pected  from  the  Indians.  The  sage  brush,  willow,  and  grease- wood  had 
been  cut  and  cleared  away  for  a  considerable  distance  around,  to  pre 
vent  any  Indians  getting  near  the  fort  without  being  discovered.  In 
side  the  stockade  were  the  houses,  store,  and  quarters  for  the  men,  with 
a  space  sufficiently  large  to  corral  about  one  hundred  horses.  The 
houses  and  quarters  were  built  by  laying  down  sills,  placing  posts  at 
from  eight  to  twelve  feet  apart,  with  tenons  on  the  top,  and  the  bottom 
grooved  in  the  sides,  and  for  corner-posts,  so  as  to  slip  each  piece  of 
timber,  having  also  a  tenon  upon  each  end,  into  the  grooves  of  the  posts, 
forming  a  solid  wall  of  from  four  to  six  inches  thick,  usually  about  seven 
feet  high  from  floor  to  ceiling,  or  timbers  overhead.  The  roofs  were  of 
split  cedar,  flattened  and  placed  upon  the  ridge  pole  aiid  plate-like 
rafters,  close  together;  then  grass  or  straw  was  put  on  the  split  pieces, 
covered  with  mud  and  dirt,  and. packed  to  keep  the  straw  from  blow 
ing  off.  The  roofs  were  less  than  one-fourth  pitch,  and  of  course  sub 
ject  to  leakage  when  it  rained.  For  floors,  split  puncheons  or  planks 
were  used  in  the  chief  trader's  quarters.  In  the  corner  of  the  room 
was  a  comfortable  fireplace,  made  of  mud  in  place  of  brick.  The  room 
was  lighted  with  six  panes  of  glass,  seven  inches  by  nine,  set  in  strips 
of  wood,  split  with  a  common  knife,  and  shaped  so  as  to  hold  the  glass 
in  place  of  a  sash. 

The  doors  were  also  of  split  lumber,  rough  hewn,  wrought-iron  hinges, 
and  wooden  latches ;  the  furniture  consisted  of  three  benches,  two  stools, 
and  one  chair  (something  like  a  barber's  chair,  without  the  scrolls  and 
cushions) ;  a  bed  in  one  corner  of  the  *%oom  upon  some  split  boards  for 
bottom ;  a  rough  table  of  the  same  material  roughly  planed.  This, 
with  a  few  old  cutlasses,  shot-pouches,  and  tobacco  sacks  (such  as  were 
manufactured  by  the  Indians  about  the  post),  constituted  the  room 
and  furniture  occupied  by  P.  C.  Pambrun,  Esq.,  of  the  Honorable  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company.  Into  this  room  the  mission  party  were  invited, 
and  introduced  to  Mrs.  Pambrun  and  two  young  children-misses.  The 
kind  and  cordial  reception  of  Mr.  Pambrun  was  such  that  all  felt  cheer 
ful  and  relieved  in  this  rude  specimen  of  half-native,  half-French  dwell 
ing.  The  cloth  was  soon  spread  upon  the  table,  and  the  cook  brought 
in  the  choice  game  of  the  prairies  well  cooked,  with  a  small  supply  of 
Irish  potatoes  and  small  Canadian  yellow  corn.  This  was  a  feast, 
as  well  as  a  great  change  from  dried  and  pounded  buffalo  meat 
"  straight,"  as  the  miners  say,  upon  which  we  had  subsisted  since  we 
left  the  rendezvous,  except  the  occasional  fresh  bits  we  could  get  along 
the  route.  Dinner  being  disposed  of,  some  fine  melons  were  served, 


YOTAGE   DOWN   THE   RIVER. 


145 


which  Mr.  Pambrun  had  succeeded  in  raising  in  his  little  melon  patch, 
in  the  bends  of  the  Wallawalla  River,  about  two  miles  from  the  fort. 
The  supply  of  melons  was  quite  limited,  a  single  one  of  each  kind  for 
the  party.  Mr.  Townsend  on  this  occasion  yielded  his  share  to  the 
ladies,  and  insisted,  as  he  had  been  at  the  fort  and  partaken  of  them  on 
previous  occasions,  they  should  have  his  share.  Dinner  over,  melons 
disposed  of,  fort,  stores,  and  quarters  examined,  arrangements  were 
made  for  sleeping  in  the  various  sheds  and  bastions  of  the  fort.  Most 
of  the  gentlemen  preferred  the  open  air  and  tent  to  the  accommodations 
of  the  fort.  Rooms  were  provided  for  the  two  ladies  and  their  hus 
bands,  Dr.  Whitman  and  Mr.  Spalding. 

Next  morning  early,  Messrs.  McLeod  and  Townsend  started  for  Van 
couver  in  a  light  boat,  with  the  understanding  that  Mr.  Pambrun,  with 
the  company's  furs,  and  the  mission  party,  were  to  follow  in  a  few  days. 
Mr.  McKay  was  to  remain  in  charge  of  the  fort.  All  tilings  were  ar 
ranged  to  Mr.  Pambrun's  satisfaction  ;  two  boats  or  barges  were  made 
ready,  the  furs  and  party  all  aboard,  with  seven  men  to  each  barge, 
six  to  row  and  one  to  steer,  with  a  big  paddle  instead  of  a  helm,  or  an 
oar  ;  we  glided  swiftly  down  the  Columbia  River,  the  scenery  of  which 
is  not  surpassed  in  grandeur  by  any  river  in  the  world.  Fire,  earth, 
and  water  have  combined  to  make  one  grand  display  with  melted  lava, 
turning  it  out  in  all  imaginable  and  unimaginable  shapes  and  forms  on 
a  most  gigantic  scale.  In  other  countries,  these  hills  thrown  up  would  be 
called  mountains,  but  here  we  call  them  high  rolling  plains,  interspersed 
with  a  few  snow-capped  peaks,  some  fifteen  and  some  seventeen  thou 
sand  feet  high.  The  river  is  running  through  these  plains,  wandering 
around  among  the  rocks  with  its  gentle  current  of  from  four  to  eight 
knots  per  hour ;  at  the  rapids  increasing  its  velocity  and  gyrations 
around  and  among  the  rocks  in  a  manner  interesting  and  exciting  to 
the  traveler,  who  at  one  moment  finds  his  boat  head  on  at  full 
speed  making  for  a  big  rock;  anon  he  comes  along,  and  by  an  extra 
exertion  with  his  pole  shoves  off  his  boat  to  receive  a  full  supply  of 
water  from  the  rolling  swell,  as  the  water  rushes  over  the  rock  he  has 
but  just  escaped  being  dashed  to  pieces  against.  As  to  danger  in  such 
places,  it  is  all  folly  to  think  of  any  ;  so  on  we  go  to  repeat  the  same 
performance  over  and  over  till  we  reach  the  falls,  at  what  is  now  called 
Celilo,  where  we  find  about  twenty-five  feet  perpendicular  fall. 

Our  boats  were  discharged  of  all  their  contents,  about  one-fourth  of 
a  mile  above  the  main  fall,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river.  Then 
the  cargo  was  packed  upon  the  Indians' backs  to  the  landing  below  the 
falls,  the  Indian  performing  this  part  of  the  labor  for  from  two  to  six 
inches  of  trail-rope  tobacco.  A  few  were  paid  from  two  to  ten  charges 

]0 


146  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

of  powder  and  ball,  or  shot,  depending  upon  the  number  of  trips  they 
made  and  the  amount  they  carried.  The  boats  were  let  down  with 
lines  as  near  the  fall  as  was  considered  safe,  hauled  out  of  the  water, 
turned  bottom  up,  arid  as  many  Indians  as  could  get  under  them,  say 
some  twenty-five  to  each  boat,  lifted  them  upon  their  shoulders  and 
carried  them  to  the  water  below.  For  this  service  they  each  received 
two  dried  leaves  of  tobacco,  which  would  make  about  six  common 
pipefuls.  The  Indian,  however,  with  other  dried  leaves,  would  make 
his  two  leaves  of  tobacco  last  some  time. 

This  portage  over,  and  all  on  board,  we  again  glided  swiftly  along, 
ran  through  what  is  called  the  Little  Dalles,  and  soon  reached  the 
narrowest  place  in  the  Columbia,  where  the  water  rushes  through 
sharp  projecting  rocks,  causing  it  to  turn  and  whirl  and  rush  in  every 
conceivable  shape  for  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile,  till  it  finds  a  large 
circular  basin  below,  into  which  it  runs  and  makes  one  grand  turn 
round  and  passes  smoothly  out  at  right  angles  and  down  in  a  deep 
smooth  current,  widening  as  it  enters  the  lofty  range  of  the  Cascade 
Mountains.  The  river  was  deemed  a  little  too  high,  by  our  Iroquois 
pilot,  to  run  the  Big  Dalles  at  that  time,  although,  in  January  follow 
ing,  the  writer,  in  company  with  another  party,  did  run  them  with  no 
more  apparent  danger  than  we  experienced  on  the  same  trip  at  what 
is  called  John  Day's  Rapids.  At  the  Dalles  our  party  made  another 
portage,  paying  our  Indians  as  at  Celilo  Falls. 

The  Indians'  curiosity  to  look  at  the  white  women  caused  us  a  little 
delay  at  the  falls,  and  also  at  the  Dalles ;  in  fact,  numbers  of  them 
followed  our  boats  in  their  canoes  to  the  Dalles,  to  look  at  these  two 
strange  beings  who  had  nothing  to  carry  but  their  own  persons,  and 
were  dressed  so  differently  from  the  men. 

We  proceeded  down  the  river  for  a  few  miles  and  met  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  express  canoe,  in  charge  of  Mr.  Hovey,  on  its  way  to 
Lachine,  going  across  the  continent ;  stopped  and  exchanged  greetings 
for  a  few  minutes  and  passed  on  to  camp  just  above  Dog  River. 
Next  morning  made  an  early  start  to  reach  La  Cascade  to  make  the 
portage  there  before  night.  We  had  proceeded  but  about  one  hour, 
with  a  gentle  breeze  from  the  east,  sails  all  set,  and  in  fine  spirits, 
admiring  the  sublimely  grand  scenery,  when,  looking  down  the  river, 
the  ladies  inquired  what  made  the  water  look  so  white.  In  a  moment 
our  boatmen  took  in  sail,  and  laid  to  their  oars  with  all  their  mio-ht  to 

O 

reach  land  and  get  under  shelter,  which  we  did,  but  not  till  we  had 
received  considerable  wetting,  and  experienced  the  first  shock  of  a 
severe  wind-storm,  such  as  can  be  gotten  up  on  the  shortest  possible 
notice  in  the  midst  of  the  Cascade  Mountains.  Our  camp  was  just 


MANNER   OF   FLATTENING   HEADS.  147 

below  White  Salmon  River.  The  storm  was  so  severe  that  all  our 
baggage,  furs,  and  even  boats  had  to  be  taken  out  of  the  water  to 
prevent  them  from  being  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  shore.  For  three 
days  and  nights  we  lay  in  this  miserable  camp  watching  the  storm  as 
it  howled  on  the  waves  and  through  this  mountain  range.  Stormy  as 
it  was,  a  few  Indians  found  our  camp  and  crawled  over  the  points  of 
rocks  to  get  sight  of  our  party. 

Among  the  Indians  of  the  coast  and  lower  Columbia  none  but  such 
as  are  of  noble  birth  are  allowed  to  flatten  their  skulls.  This  is  accom 
plished  by  taking  an  infant  and  placing  it  upon  a  board  corresponding 
in  length  and  breadth  to  the  size  of  the  child,  which  is  placed  upon 
it  and  lashed  fast  in  a  sort  of  a  sack,  to  hold  its  limbs  and  body  in  one 
position.  The  head  is  also  confined  with  strings  and  lashing,  allowing 
scarcely  any  motion  for  the  head.  From  the  head  of  the  board,  upon 
which  the  infant  is  made  fast,  is  a  small  piece  of  board  lashed  to  the 
back  piece,  extending  down  nearly  over  the  eyes,  with  strings  attached 
so  as  to  prevent  the  forehead  from  extending  beyond  the  eyes,  giving 
the  head  and  face  a  broad  and  flat  shape.  The  native  infants  of  the 
blood  royal  were  kept  in  these  presses  from  three  to  four  months,  or 
longer,  as  the  infant  could  bear,  or  as  the  aspirations  of  the.  parent 
prompted.  For  the  last  fifteen  years  I  have  not  seen  a  native  infant 
promoted  to  these  royal  honors.  My  impression  is  that  the  example 
of  the  white  mother  in  the  treatment  of  her  infant  has  had  more  in 
fluence  in  removing  this  cruel  practice  than  any  other  cause.  As  a 
general  thing,  the  tribes  that  have  followed  the  practice  of  flattening 
the  skull  are  inferior  in  intellect,  less  stirring  and  enterprising  in  their 
habits,  and  far  more  degraded  in  their  morals  than  other  tribes.  To  this 
cause  probably  more  than  any  other  may  be  traced  the  effect  of  vice 
among  them.  The  tribes  below  the  Cascade  Mountains  were  the  first 
that  had  any  intercourse  with  the  whites.  The  diseases  never  feared 
or  shunned  by  the  abandoned  and  profligate  youth  and  sailor  were  in 
troduced  among  them.  The  certain  and  legitimate  effect  soon  showed 
itself  all  along  the  coast.  So  prevalent  was  vice  and  immorality  among 
the  natives,  that  not  one  escaped.  Their  blood  became  tainted,  their 
bodies  loathsome  and  foul,  their  communication  corrupt  continually. 
The  flattened  head  of  the  royal  families,  and  the  round  head  of  the 
slave,  was  no  protection  from  vice  and  immoral  intercourse  among  the 
sexes  ;  hence,  when  diseases  of  a  different  nature,  and  such  as  among 
the  more  civilized  white  race  are  easily  treated  and  cured,  came  among 
them,  they  fell  like  rotten  sheep.  If  a  remnant  is  left,  I  have  often 
felt  that  the  reacting  curse  of  vice  will  pursue  our  advanced  civiliza 
tion  for  the  certain  destruction  that  has  befallen  the  miserable  tribes 


148  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

that  but  a  few  years  since  peopled  this  whole  coast.  It  is  true  that 
the  missionaries  came  to  the  country  before  many  white  settlers  came. 
It  is  also  true  that  they  soon  learned  the  causes  that  would  sweep  the 
Indians  from  the  land,  and  in  their  feeble  efforts  to  check  and  remove 
the  causes,  they  were  met  by  the  unlimited  and  unbridled  passions  of 
all  in  the  country,  and  all  who  came  to  it  for  a  number  of  years  sub 
sequent,  with  a  combined  influence  to  destroy  that  of  the  missionaries 
in  correcting  or  checking  this  evil.  Like  alcohol  and  its  friends,  it 
had  no  virtue  or  conscience,  hence  the  little  moral  influence  brought 
by  the  first  missionaries  was  like  pouring  water  upon  glass :  it  only 
washed  the  sediment  from  the  surface  while  the  heart  remained  un 
touched.  Most  of  the  missionaries  could  only  be  witnesses  of  facts 
that  they  had  little  or  no  power  to  correct  or  prevent ;  many  of  them 
lacked  the  moral  courage  necessary  to  combat  successfully  the  influ 
ences  with  which  they  were  surrounded,  and  every  action,  word,  or 
expression  was  canvassed  and  turned  against  them  or  the  cause  they 
represented. 

The  reader  will  excuse  this  little  digression  into  moral  facts,  as  he 
will  bear  in  mind  that  we  were  in  a  most  disagreeable  camp  on  the 
Columbia  River,  between  the  Cascades  and  the  Dalles,  and  for  the 
first  time  were  introduced  to  real  live  Flatheads  and  the  process  of 
making  them  such.  The  men,  also,  or  boatmen,  amused  themselves  in 
getting  the  members  of  the  royal  family  who  visited  our  camp  drunk 
as  Chinamen  (on  opium),  by  filling  their  pipes  with  pure  trail-rope 
tobacco. 

On  the  fourth  morning  after  the  storm  stopped  us,  we  were  again  on 
our  way.  Arrived  at  the  Cascades  and  made  a  portage  of  the  goods 
over,  around,  and  among  the  rocks,  till  we  reached  the  basin  below  the 
main  shoot  or  rapids.  The  boats  were  let  down  by  lines  ami  hauled 
out  to  repair  leakage  from  bruises  received  on  the  rocks  in  their  de 
scent.  Damage  repaired,  all  embarked  again,  and  ran  down  to  Cape 
Horn  and  camped ;  next  day  we  reached  the  saw-mill  and  camped 
early.  All  hands  must  wash  up  and  get  ready  to  reach  the  fort  in  the 
morning.  From  the  saw-mill  an  Indian  was  sent  on  ahead  to  give  no 
tice  at  the  fort  of  the  arrival  of  the  party.  Our  captain,  as  the  Ameri 
cans  would  call  Mr.  Pambrun,  who  had  charge  of  the  boats,  was  slow 
in  getting  ready  to  start.  Breakfast  over,  all  dressed  in  their  best 
clothes,  the  party  proceeded  on  down  the  river.  In  coming  round  a 
bend  of  the  upper  end  of  the  plain  upon  which  the  fort  stands,  we 
came  in  full  view  of  two  fine  ships  dressed  in  complete  regalia  from 
stem  to  stern,  with  the  St.  George  cross  waving  gracefully  from  the 
staff  in  the  fort.  Our  party  inquired  innocently  enough  the  cause  of 


ARRIVAL  AT  VANCOUVER. 

this  display.  Captain  Pambrun  evaded  a  direct  answer.  In  a  short 
time,  as  the  boats  neared  the  shore,  two  tall,  well-formed,  neatly-dressed 
gentlemen  waved  a  welcome,  and  in  a  moment  all  were  on  shore.  Rev. 
Mr.  Spalding  and  lady  were  introduced,  followed  by  Dr.  Whitman 
and  lady,  to  the  two  gentlemen.  One,  whose  hair  was  then  nearly 
white,  stepped  forward  and  gave  his  arm  to  Mrs.  Whitman.  The 
other,  a  tall,  black-haired,  black-eyed  man,  with  rather  slim  body,  a 
light  sallow  complexion  and  smooth  face,  gave  his  arm  to  Mrs.  Spalding. 
By  this  time  Mr.  McLeod  had  made  his  appearance,  and  bade  the 
party  a  hearty  welcome  and  accompanied  them  into  the  fort.  We  be 
gan  to  suspect  the  cause  of  so  much  display.  All  safely  arrived  in  the 
fort,  we  were  led  up-stairs,  in  front  of  the  big  square  hewed-timber 
house,  and  into  a  room  on  the  right  of  the  hall,  where  the  ladies  were 
seated,  as  also  some  six  gentlemen,  besides  the  tall  white-headed  one. 
The  writer,  standing  in  the  hall,  was  noticed  by  Mr.  McLeod,  who  came 
out  and  invited  him  into  the  quarters  of  the  clerks.  We  will  leave  our 
ladies  in  conversation  with  the  two  fine-looking  gentlemen  that 
received  them  on  arriving  at  the  water's  edge,  while  we  take  a  look 
at  the  fort,  as  it  appeared  on  September  12,  1836. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Fort  Vancouver  in  1836. — An  extra  table. — Conditions  on  which  cattle  were  supplied 
to  settlers. — Official  papers. — Three  organizations. 

FORT  VANCOUVER  was  a  stockade,  built  with  fir-logs  about  ten  inches 
in  diameter,  set  some  four  feet  in  the  ground,  and  about  twenty  feet 
above,  secured  by  pieces  of  timber  pinned  on  the  inside,  running 
diagonally  around  the  entire  stockade,  which  at  that  time  covered  or 
inclosed  about  two  acres  of  ground.  The  old  fort,  as  it  was  called,  was 
so  much  decayed  that  the  new  one  was  then  being  built,  and  portions 
of  the  old  one  replaced.  The  storehouses  were  all  built  of  hewn  timber, 
about  six  inches  thick,  and  covered  with  sawed  boards  one  foot  wide 
and  one  inch  thick,  with  grooves  in  the  edges  of  the  boards,  placed  up 
and  down  upon  the  roof,  in  place  of  shingles ;  of  course,  in  case  of  a 
knot-hole  or  a  crack,  it  was  a  leaky  concern.  All  the  houses  were 
covered  with  boards  in  a  similar  manner  in  the  new  quarters.  The  par 
titions  were  all  upright  boards  planed,  and  the  cracks  battened  ;  floors 
were  mostly  rough  boards,  except  the  office  and  the  governor's  house, 
which  were  planed.  The  parsonage  was  what  might  be  called  of  the 
balloon  order,  covered  like  the  rest,  with  a  big  mud  and  stone  chimney 
in  the  center.  The  partitions  and  floors  were  rough  boards.  There 
were  but  two  rooms,  the  one  used  for  dining-room  and  kitchen,  the  other 
for  bedroom  and  parlor.  The  doors  and  gates  of  the  fort,  or  stockade, 
were  all  locked  from  the  inside,  and  a  guard  stationed  over  the  gate. 
In  front  of  the  governor's  house  was  a  half  semicircle  double  stairway, 
leading  to  the  main  hall  up  a  flight  of  some  ten  steps.  In  the  center 
of  the  semicircle  was  one  large  24-pound  cannon,  mounted  on  a 
ship's  carriage,  and  on  either  side  was  a  small  cannon,  or  mortar  gun, 
with  balls  piled  in  order  about  them,  all  pointing  to  the  main  gate 
entrance  ;  latterly,  to  protect  the  fort  from  the  savages  that  had  com 
menced  coming  over  the  Rocky  Mountains,  a  bastion  was  built,  said  to 
be  for  saluting  her  Majesty's  ships  when  they  might  arrive,  or  depart 
from  the  country. 

At  12  M.  the  fort  bell  rang;  clerks  and  gentlemen  all  met  at  the 
common  dinner-table,  which  was  well  supplied  with  potatoes,  salmon, 
wild  fowl,  and  usually  with  venison  and  bread.  Dinner  over,  most  of 
the  gentlemen  passed  a  compliment  in  a  glass  of  wine,  or  brandy,  if  pre- 


THE  LADIES'  TABLE. 

ferred ;  all  then  retired  to  the  social  hall,  a  room  in  the  clerks'  quarters, 
where  they  indulged  in  a  stiff  pipe  of  tobacco,  sometimes  filling  the 
room  as  full  as  it  could  hold  with  smoke.  At  1  p.  M.  the  bell  rang 
again,  when  all  went  to  business. 

The  party  had  no  sooner  arrived  than  the  carpenter  was  ordered  to 
make  an  extra  table,  which  was  located  in  the  governor's  office,  in  the 
room  where  we  left  them  on  first  bringing  them  into  the  house.  This 
extra  table  was  presided  over  by  the  governor,  or  the  next  highest 
officers  of  the  fort ;  usually  one  or  two  of  the  head  clerks  or  gentlemen 
traders  were,  by  special  invitation,  invited  to  dine  with  the  ladies,  or, 
rather,  at  the  ladies'  table.  The  governor's  wife  was  not  sufficiently 
accomplished,  at  first,  to  take  a  seat  at  the  ladies'  table.  I  never  saw 
her  in  the  common  dining-hall ;  neither  was  the  mother  of  the  chief 
clerk's  children  permitted  this  honor  at  first.  However,  as  Mrs.  Whit 
man  and  Mrs.  Spalding  soon  learned  the  fort  regulations,  as  also  the 
family  connection  there  was  in  the  establishment,  they  very  soon  intro 
duced  themselves  to  the  two  principal  mothers  they  found  in  the  gov 
ernor's  house,  one  belonging  to  the  governor,  and  the  other  to  the  chief 
clerk,  and  made  themselves  acquainted  with  the  young  misses  ;  and,  in 
a  short  time,  in  opposition  to  the  wish  of  the  governor  and  his  chief 
clerk,  brought  them  both  to  the  ladies'  table.  They  also  brought  the 
youngest  daughter  of  the  governor  to  the  table,  and  took  considerable 
pains  to  teach  the  young  misses,  and  make  themselves  generally  useful ; 
so  that,  at  the  end  of  two  weeks,  when  arrangements  had  been  made 
for  the  party  to  return  to  Wallawalla  to  commence  their  missionary 
labors,  the  governor  and  chief  clerk  would  not  allow  the  ladies  to 
depart,  till  the  gentlemen  had  gone  up  and  selected  their  stations 
and  built  their  houses,  so  that  they  could  be  comfortable  for  winter. 
Captain  Wyeth  and  Mr.  Townsend  were  correct  in  their  ideas  of  the 
reception  of  this  party.  The  utmost  cordiality  was  manifested,  the 
kindest  attention  paid,  and  such  articles  as  could  be  made  about  the 
establishment,  that  the  party  wanted,  were  supplied.  The  goods  were 
all  to  be  furnished  at  one  hundred  per  cent,  on  London  prices,  drafts 
to  be  drawn  on  the  American  Board,  payable  in  London  at  sight. 
They  were  cashed  by  the  Board  at  thirty-seven  cents  premium  on 
London  drafts,  costing  the  mission  two  dollars  and  seventy-four  cents 
for  every  dollar's  worth  of  goods  they  received ;  freight  and  charges 
from  Fort  Vancouver  to  Wallawalla  were  added.  These  goods  were 
received  and  paid  for,  not  as  a  business  transaction  with  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  by  any  means,  but  as  a  gracious  gift  •  or,  to  quote 
the  governor  and  chief  clerk,  "  You  gentlemen  must  consider  your 
selves  under  great  obligation  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  as  we 


152  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

are  only  here  to  trade  with  the  natives.  In  your  future  transactions 
you  will  make  out  your  orders,  and  we  will  forward  them  to  London 
to  be  filled  at  their  rates,  and  with  this  understanding." 

While  at  Vancouver,  Dr.  Whitman  concluded  that  some  more  cattle 
than  the  mission  had  were  necessary  to  facilitate  the  labor  in  breaking 
up  the  prairie  for  a  spring  crop ;  and  a  few  cows  might  be  useful  to 
assist  in  getting  a  start  in  cattle.  The  proposition  was  made  to  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  to  know  upon  wrhat  terms  they  could  get 
them.  "  Certainly,"  said  Dr.  McLaughlin,  "  you  can  have  what  cattle 
you  want  on  the  conditions  we  furnish  them  to  the  company's  servants 
and  the  settlers  in  the  Wallamet."  "  What  are  those  conditions  ?" 
said  Dr.  Whitman.  "  Why,  in  case  of  work  cattle,  you  can  take  them 
from  our  band ;  we  can  not,  of  course,  spare  you  those  we  are  working, 
but  the  cattle  you  take,  you  break  in,  and  when  the  company  requires 
them  you  return  them  to  the  company."  "And  what  are  your  terms  in 
letting  your  COWTS  ?"  said  Dr.  Whitman.  "  Why,  we  let  them  have  the 
cows  for  the  use  of  the  milk ;  they  return  the  cow  and  its  increase  to 
the  company."  "And  how  is  it  in  case  the  animal  is  lost  or  gets 
killed  ?"  "  You  gentlemen  will  have  no  difficulty  on  that  account ; 
,you  have  some  cattle;  you  can  replace  them  from  your  own  band." 

Dr.  Whitman  seemed  a  little  incredulous  as  to  the  conditions  upon 
which  cattle  could  be  had  of  the  company,  and  inquired  if  such  were 
the  conditions  they  furnished  them  to  their  servants  and  the  settlers. 
Dr.  McLaughlin  replied  emphatically,  it  was.  We  learned  in  this  con 
nection  that  there  was  not  a  cow  in  the  country,  except  those  of  the 
American  Board,  that  was  not  owned  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 
The  same  was  the  case  with  all  the  beeves  and  work  cattle.  The 
mission  party  concluded  they  would  not  mortgage  their  own  cattle  for 
the  use  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's ;  hence  dropped  the  cattle 
question  for  the  time  being. 

WThile  at  Vancouver,  it  was  deemed  necessary  for  a  copy  of  the 
official  papers  of  the  mission  party  to  be  made  out,  and  forwarded  to 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  to  the  American  and  British  consuls,  and  one 
to  the  commercial  agent  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  with  an  order 
from  Dr.  McLaughlin,  to  the  agent  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  to 
forward  any  supplies  or  goods  designed  for  the  mission  of  the  American 
Board.  These  documents  were  made  out,  and  duly  signed,  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Spalding  and  Dr.  Whitman.  The  question  arose  whether  the  name 
of  the  secular  agent  of  the  mission  ought  not  also  to  be  attached  to  the 
documents,  and  was  decided  in  the  affirmative.  Gray  was  sent  for  ;  he 
entered  the  office  with  his  hat  under  his  arm,  as  per  custom  in  entering 
the  audience  chamber  where  official  business  was  transacted,  examined 


OPPRESSIVE  POLICY.  153 

hastily  the  documents,  attached  his  name,  and  retired.  The  incident 
was  noticed  by  Dr.  McLaughlin,  and  while  the  mission  party  were 
absent,  locating  and  building  their  stations,  Dr.  McLaughlin  inquired 
of  Mrs.  Whitman  who  the  young  man  was  that  Mr.  Spalding  and  her 
husband  had  to  sign  a  copy  of  the  public  documents  sent  to  the  Sand 
wich  Islands.  Mrs.  Whitman  replied,  "  Why,  that  is  Mr.  Gray,  our 
associate,  and  secular  agent  of  the  mission."  The  inquiries  about  Mr. 
Gray  were  dropped  till  the  ladies  reached  their  stations,  and  Mr.  Gray 
was  advised,  when  he  visited  Vancouver  again,  to  present  his  creden 
tials,  and  show  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  his  connection  with  the 
mission.  Accordingly,  when  Mr.  Gray  visited  Vancouver,  in  January, 
1837,  he  presented  his  credentials,  and  was  received  in  a  manner  con 
trasting  very  strongly  with  that  of  his  former  reception ;  still,  the 
lesson  he  had  learned  was  not  a  useless  one.  He  saw  plainly  the  con 
dition  of  all  the  settlers,  or  any  one  in  the  country  that  had  no  official 
position  or  title;  he  was  looked  upon  as  a  vagabond,  and  entitled  to  no 
place  or  encouragement,  only  as  he  submitted  to  the  absolute  control 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  or  one  of  the  missions.  There  was 
nothing  but  master  and  servant  in  the  country,  and  this  honorable  com 
pany  were  determined  that  no  other  class  should  be  permitted  to  be  an 
it.  To  the  disgrace  of  most  of  the  missionaries,  this  state  of  absolute 
dependence  and  submission  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  or  them 
selves,  was  submitted  to,  and  encouraged.  At  least,  no  one  but  Rev. 
Jason  Lee,  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  fully  comprehended  the  precise 
condition  of  an  outsider.  This  will  be  shown  as  we  proceed.  W^e 
were  made  a  party  to  a  special  contract,  in  1337,  touching  this 
question. 

Then  we  had  three  distinct  organizations  in  the  country:  The  first, 
and  the  most  important  in  wealth  and  influence,  was  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  traders  ;  the  second,  the  Methodist  Mission,  with  their 
ideas  and  efforts  to  Christianize  the  savages,  and  to  do  what  they 
could  to  convert  the  gentlemen  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  from 
the  error  of  their  ways ;  third,  the  mission  of  the  American  Board,  to 
accomplish  the  same  object.  The  fact  of  these  two  missions  being  in 
the  country,  both  having  the  same  object  to  accomplish,  elicited  a  dis 
cussion  as  to  the  proper  location  for  both  to  operate  in.  It  was  not 
deemed  advisable  to  locate  in  the  same  tribe,  as  the  field  was  large 
enough  for  both.  The  Cowlitz  and  Puget  Sound  district  was  proposed, 
but  not  favored  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company ;  Mr.  Pambrun  kept  the 
claims  of  the  Nez  Perces  and  Cayuses  before  the  party.  His  interests 
and  arguments  prevailed. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Settlers  in  1836. — Wallamet  Cattle  Company. — "What  good  have  the  missionaries  done  ? 
— Rev.  J.  Lee  and  party. — The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  recommend  the  Wal 
lamet. — Missionaries  not  dependent  on  the  company. — Rev.  S.  Parker  arrives  at 
Vancouver. 

THERE  were  in  the  country,  in  the  winter  of  1836,  besides  those  con 
nected  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  missions,  about  fifteen 
men,  all  told.  The  two  missions  numbered  seven  men  and  two  women, 
making  the  American  population  about  twenty-five  persons.  To  bring 
the  outsiders  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  two  missions 
into  subjection,  and  to  keep  them  under  proper  control,  it  was  necessary 
to  use  all  the  influence  the  Methodist  Mission  had.  They,  as  a  matter  of 
interest  and  policy,  furnished  to  such  as  showed  a  meek  and  humble 
disposition,  labor,  and  such  means  as  they  could  spare  from  their  stores, 
and  encouraged  them  to  marry  the  native  women  they  might  have,  or 
be  disposed  to  take,  and  become  settlers  about  the  mission.  Such  as 
were  not  disposed  to  submit  to  the  government  of  the  mission,  or  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  like  Mr.  E.  Young,  Carmichael,  and  Killmer, 
were  "  left  out  in  the  cold"  They  could  get  no  supplies,  and  no  employ 
ment.  They  were  literally  outcasts  from  society,  and  considered  as  out 
laws  and  intruders  in  the  country.  All  seemed  anxious  to  get  rid  of 
them. 

McCarty,  the  companion  of  Mr.  Young  from  California  to  Oregon, 
had  fallen  out  with  him  on  the  way,  as  Young  was  bringing  to  the 
country  a  band  of  California  horses  (brood  mares).  McCarty,  it  seems, 
to  be  avenged  on  Young,  reported  to  Dr.  McLaughlin  and  the  mission 
that  Young  had  stolen  his  band  of  horses  (though  it  has  since  been 
stated  upon  good  authority  that  such  was  not  the  case) ;  still  McCarty 
was  (I  understand)  a  member  of  the  class-meeting,  on  probation.  His 
statements  were  received  as  truth,  and  Young  suffered.  Young  was  a 
stirring,  ambitious  man ;  he  had  spent  some  time  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  in  Santa  Fe  and  California,  and  the  little  property  he 
could  get  he  had  invested  in  horses,  and  brought  them  to  Oregon.  This 
fact,  with  the  malicious  reports  circulated  about  him,  made  him  an 
object  of  suspicion  and  contempt  on  the  part  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  and  the  mission.  We  find  that  Mr.  Lee  treated  Mr.  Young  as  an 


WALL  A  MET   CATTLE   COMPANY.  155 

honest  man,  and,  consequently,  fell  under  the  displeasure  of  Dr. 
McLaughlin  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  With  Mr.  Young,  Mr. 
Lee  succeeded  in  getting  up  the  first  cattle  company,  and  gave  the  first 
blow  toward  breaking  up  the  despotism  and  power  of  the  company. 
Mr.  Young,  as  Mr.  Lee  informed  us,  was  the  only  man  in  the  country 
he  could  rely  upon,  in  carrying  out  his  plan  to  supply  the  settlement 
with  cattle.  He  was  aware  of  the  stories  in  circulation  about  him,  and 
of  the  want  of  confidence  in  him  in  the  mission  and  arnono;  the  French- 

O 

Canadians  and  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  To  obviate  this  difficulty,  he 
suggested  that  Mr.  P.  L.  Edwards,  a  member  of  the  mission,  should  go 
as  treasurer  of  the  company,  and  Mr.  Young  as  captain.  This  brought 
harmony  into  the  arrangement,  and  a  ready  subscription  to  the  stock 
of  the  Wallamet  Cattle  Company,  all  being  anxious  to  obtain  cattle. 
But  few  of  the  settlers  had  any  means  at  command.  Many  of  the  dis 
charged  servants  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  credit  on  their 
books.  There  were  outside  men  enough  in  the  country  willing  to  volun 
teer  to  go  for  the  cattle,  and  receive  their  pay  in  cattle  when  they  arrived 
with  the  band  in  Oregon.  This  brought  the  matter  directly  to  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  to  Dr.  McLaughlin.  Rev.  Jason  Lee 
received  the  orders  of  the  company's  servants,  went  to  Vancouver,  and 
learned  from  the  clerks  in  the  office  the  amounts  due  the  drawers,  then 
went  to  the  Doctor,  and  insisted  that  certain  amounts  should  be  paid-* 
on  those  orders. 

The  Doctor  very  reluctantly  consented  to  allow  the  money  or  drafts 
to  be  paid.  This  amount,  with  all  the  mission  and  settlers  could  raise, 
would  still  have  been  too  small  to  justify  the  party  in  starting,  but  W. 
A.  Slacum,  Esq.,  of  the  United  States  navy,  being  on  a  visit  to  the 
country,  Mr.  Lee  stated  the  condition  of  matters  to  him.  Mr.  Slacum 
at  once  subscribed  the  requisite  stock,  and  advanced  all  the  money  the 
mission  wished  on  their  stock,  taking  mission  drafts  on  their  Board, 
and  gave  a  free  passage  to  California  for  the  whole  party.  (As  the 
missionaries  would  say,  "Bless  God  for  brother  Slacum's  providential 
arrival  among  us.")  Uncle  Sam  had  the  right  man  in  the  right  place 
that  time.  It  was  but  a  little  that  he  did ;  yet  that  little,  what  mighty 
results  have  grown  out  of  it ! 

On  the  19th  of  January,  1S37,  six  days  after  Mr.  Young  had  given 
up  his  projected  distillery,  he  is  on  board  Mr.  Slacum's  brig  Lariat, 
lying  oif  the  mouth  of  the  WalLimet  River,  and  on  his  way  to  Califor 
nia  with  a  company  of  stout-hearted  men,  eight  (I  think)  in  all,  not  to 
steal  horses  or  cheat  the  miserable  savages,  and  equally  miserable 
settlers,  out  of  their  little  productive  labor,  but  to  bring  a  band  of 
cattle  to  benefit  the  whole  country.  In  this  connection,  I  could  not  do 


156  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

justice  to  all  without  quoting  a  paragraph  which  I  find  in  Rev.  G. 
Hines'  history  of  the  Oregon  missions.     He  says  : — 

"  Mr.  Slacum's  vessel  left  the  Columbia  River  about  the  first  of  Feb 
ruary,  and  arrived  safely  in  the  bay  of  San  Francisco,  on  the  coast  of 
California.  The  cattle  company  proceeded  immediately  to  purchase  a 
large  band  of  cattle  and  a  number  of  horses,  with  which  they  started 
for  Oregon.  In  crossing  a  range  of  mountains  (Rogue  River  Moun 
tains),  they  were  attacked  by  the  rascally  Indians,  and  a  number  of  their 
cattle  were  killed,  but  they  at  length  succeeded  in  driving  back  their 
foe  and  saving  the  remainder.  Contrary  to  the  predictions  and  wishes 
of  the  members  of  the  Hudson?  s  Bay  Company, who  INDIRECTLY  OPPOSED 
them  at  the  outset,  they  arrived  in  safety  in  the  \Yallamet  Valley 
with  six  hundred  head  of  cattle,  and  distributed  them  among  the  set 
tlers,  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  compact.  This  successful 
enterprise,  which  laid  the  foundation  for  a  rapid  accumulation  of  wealth 
by  the  settlers,  was  mainly  accomplished  through  the  energy  and  per 
severance  of  Rev.  Jason  Lee." 

WHAT  GOOD  HAVE  THE  MISSIONARIES  DONE  IN  THE  COUNTRY  ?  I  do 
not  know  how  Mr.  Hines  arrived  at  the  conclusion  thnt  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  "indirectly  opposed"  this  cattle  expedition.  I  know 
they  did  it  directly,  and  it  was  only  through  the  influence  of  Rev.  J. 
Lee,  and  Mr.  Slacurn,  of  the  United  States  navy,  that  they  could  have 
succeeded  at  all.  Mr.  Lee,  in  his  conversation  with  Dr.  McLaughlin, 
told  that  gentleman  directly  that  it  was  of  no  use  for  the  company  to 
oppose  the  expedition  any  more ;  the  party  was  made  up,  and  the  men 
were  on  the  way,  and  the  cattle  would  come  as  per  engagement,  unless 
the  men  were  lost  at  sea.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  yielded  the 
point  only  on  the  failure  of  the  Rogue  River  Indians  to  destroy  the 
expedition.  Mr.  Slacum  placed  it  beyond  their  control  to  stop  it. 
The  courage  of  the  men  was  superior  to  the  company's  Indian  allies. 
The  cattle  came,  and  no  thanks  to  any  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's 
generosity,  patronage,  or  power.  They  did  all  they  dared  to  do, 
openly  and  secretly,  to  prevent  the  bringing  of  that  band  of  cattle  into 
the  country ;  and,  determining  to  monopolize  the  country  as  far  as  pos 
sible,  they  at  once  entered  upon  the  PUGET  SOUND  AGRICULTURAL 
COMPANY,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the 
English  government. 

Do  you  ask  me  how  I  know  these  things  ?  Simply  by  being  at 
Vancouver  the  day  the  brig  dropped  down  the  Columbia  River,  and 
listening  to  the  discussion  excited  on  the  subject,  and  to  the  proposi 
tion  and  plan  of  the  Puget  Sound  Company  among  the  gentlemen 
concerned  in  getting  it  up. 


CAPTAIN  WYETH  AND  MISSION  PARTY.  157 

The  mission  of  the  American  Board  had  no  stock  in  the  cattle  com 
pany  of  the  Wall  am  et,  not  venturing  to  incur  the  displeasure  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  by  expressing  an  opinion  any  way  upon  it. 
The  writer  was  picking  up  items  and  preparing  for  a  trip  to  New  York 
overland,  with  one  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  traders,  Mr.  Francis 
(or  Frank)  Ermatinger.  While  in  New  York,  Cincinnati,  and  other 
places,  he  stilted  the  fact  that  the  Methodist  missionaries  had  fallen 
under  the  displeasure  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  entering  too 
freely  into  trade  and  speculation  in  cattle  in  the  country.  Truth  and 
justice  to  them  require  that  I  enter  fully  into  their  transactions  as 
men  and  missionaries. 

Rev.  J.  Lee,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  the  first  man  to  answer  the 
call  of  the  Indian  to  come  to  his  country.  The  Methodist  Board  had 
been  formed,  and  J.  Lee  accepted  their  invitation  and  patronage.  In 
this  expedition  he  gathered  his  associates,  and  at  the  same  time  made 
arrangements  for  future  supplies  to  arrive  by  sea,  coming  around  Cape 
Horn.  Captain  Wyeth  was  in  Boston,  getting  up  a  trading  expedition, 
and  chartering  a  vessel  for  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  the  May 
Dacre.  On  board  Captain  Lambert's  brig  Captain  Wyeth  and  the 
Methodist  Board  shipped  their  goods  for  the  two  expeditions.  The 
goods  on  the  way,  it  became  necessary  for  the  future  objects  of  the 
mission  to  have  a  few  horses  to  carry  on  the  improvements  necessary 
to  a  civilized  life.  Lee  and  associates  start  across  the  continent.  Mis 
souri  is  the  most  western  limit  of  civilization.  They  reach  it,  purchase 
their  outfit,  and,  in  company  with  Captain  Wyeth,  reach  Fort  Hall ; 
here  they  fall  in  with  Thomas  McKay  and  our  English  nobleman, 
Captain  Stewart.  Captain  Wyeth  stopped  to  build  his  fort,  while 
McKay,  Stewart,  Lee,  Dr.  Nutall,  Townsend,  and  parties  all  made 
their  way  to  Wallawalla,  on  the  Columbia  River.  The  supreme  selfish 
ness  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  seems  here  to  begin  to  develop 
itself.  Lee  and  party  were  made  to  believe  that  the  Flathead  tribe, 
who  had  sent  their  messengers  for  teachers,  were  not  only  a  small,  but 
a  very  distant  tribe,  and  very  disadvantageously  situated  for  the  estab 
lishment  and  support  of  a  missionary  among  them.  These  statements 
determined  them  to  proceed  to  the  lower  Columbia,  to  find  a  better 
location  to  commence  operations.  Leaving  their  horses  at  Wallawalla, 
in  charge  of  one  of  their  party,  they  proceeded  down  the  Columbia  in 
one  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  boats,  being  eleven  days  in  reach 
ing  the  fort,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  days  on  the  way  from 
Missouri.  They  were  kindly  received  by  the  gentlemen  of  the  fort,  and 
in  two  days  were  on  the  hunt  for  a  location. 

The  party  that  arrived  just  two  years  later,  with  two  ladies,  were 


158  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

not  allowed  to  leave  the  fort  to  look  for  locations  till  they  had  remained 
twelve  days,  and  been  invited  to  ride  all  over  the  farm,  and  visit  the 
ships,  and  eat  melons  and  apples  (being  always  cautioned  to  save  all 
the  seeds  for  planting). 

Lee  and  party  were  frank  to  make  known  to  the  company  their 
object,  and  plans  of  future  operations.  Questions  of  trade  and  moral 
ity  were  comparatively  new  with  the  company.  As  religious  teachers 
and  Christian  men  they  had  no  suspicions  of  any  interference  in  trade. 
Mr.  Lee  hailed  from  Canada,  and  so  did  Dr.  McLauglilin  and  a  large 
number  of  the  servants  of  the  company. 

"  Mr.  Lee  is  the  man  we  want  to  instruct  our  retired  servants  in 
religious  matters.  Mr.  Shepard  will  be  an  excellent  man  to  take 
charge  of  our  little  private  school ;  we  have  commenced  with  a  Mr.  S. 
H.  Smith,  who  has  found  his  way  into  the  country,  in  company  with 
Captain  Wyeth,  an  opposition  fur  trader  and  salmon  catcher.  We  do 
not  know  much  about  him,  but  if  you  will  allow  Mr.  Shepard  to  take 
charge  of  our  school  till  you  can  make  other  arrangements,  and  you 
require  his  services,  we  will  make  it  all  right." 

This  arrangement  placed  the  labor  of  selecting  locations  and  the 
necessary  explorations  upon  our  friend  Jason  Lee.  All  being  smooth 
and  cordial  with  the  company,  Lee  proceeds  to  French  Prairie  and  up 
the  river  till  he  reaches  a  point  ten  miles  below  Salem,  about  two  miles 
above  Jarvie's  old  place,  and  makes  his  first  location.  From  all  the 
information  he  could  gather,  this  was  the  most  central  point  to  reach 
the  greatest  number  of  Indians  and  allow  the  largest  number  of 
French  and  half-native  population  to  collect  around  the  station.  In 
this  expedition  he  occupied  about  ten  days.  The  whole  country  was 
before  them — a  wilderness  two  thousand  six  hundred  miles  broad, 
extending  from  the  gulf  of  California  on  the  south,  to  the  Russian 
settlements  on  the  north,  with  a  few  scattering  stations  among  the 
border  Indians  along  the  western  territories  of  Missouri,  and  the  great 
unknown,  unexplored  west,  which  the  American  Board,  in  a  book  pub 
lished  in  1862,  page  380,  says,  "brought  to  light  no  field  for  a  great 
and  successful  mission,"  showing  that,  for  twenty-five  years,  they  have 
neglected  to  give  this  country  the  attention  its  present  position  and 
importance  demanded,  and  also  a  total  neglect  on  their  part  to  select 
and  sustain  proper  men  in  this  vast  missionary  field.  They  are  willing 
now  to  plead  ignorance,  by  saying,  "  Rev.  Samuel  Parker's  exploring 
tour  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  1836  and  1837  (but  two  years 
after  the  Rev.  J.  Lee  came  to  it)  brought  to  light  no  field  for  a  great 
and  successful  mission"  and  console  themselves  by  asserting  a  popular 
idea  as  having  originated  from  Mr.  Parker's  exploration,  "  a  practicable 


FIRST  PRE ACHING  IN  OREGON. 

route  for  a  railroad  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific."  Mr.  Parker 
never  originated  or  thought  of  the  practicability  of  the  route  till  after 
Dr.  Whitman  had  left  his  wagon  at  Fort  Boise,  and  demonstrated  the 
fact  of  a  practicable  wagon  route.  Then  Mr.  Parker,  to  give  his  work 
or  journal  a  wider  circulation,  talked  about  a  railroad.  The  American 
Board,  I  am  sorry  to  feel  and  think,  are  good  at  attempting  to  catch  at 
straws  when  important  missionary  objects  have  been  faithfully  placed 
before  them. 

Let  us  return  to  Mr.  Lee.  On  Saturday,  September  27, 1834,  he  was  in 
council  with  Dr.  McLaughlin,  at  Vancouver.  The  result  of  his  observa 
tions  were  fully  canvassed ;  the  condition  and  pros.pects  of  the  Indians 
and  half-natives,  Canadian-French,  straggling  sailors  and  hunters  that 
might  find  their  way  into  the  country,  were  all  called  before  this  coun 
cil.  The  call  from  the  Flathead  Indians  and  the  Nez  Perces  was  not 
forgotten.  The  Wallamet  Valley  had  the  best  advocate  in  Dr.  John 
McLaughlin.  He  "  strongly  recommended  it,  as  did  the  other  gentle 
men  of  Vancouver,  as  the  most  eligible  place  for  the  establishment 
of  the  center  of  their  operations."  This  located  that  mission  under 
the  direct  supervision  and  inspection  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  placed  the  American  settlement  south  of  the 
Columbia  River. 

Mr.  Lee,  the  next  day,  was  invited  to  preach  in  the  fort.  All  shades 
of  colors  and  sects  attended  this  first  preaching  in  the  wilderness  of 
Oregon.  The  effect  in  three  months  was  the  baptizing  of  four  adults 
and  seventeen  children. 

The  Protestant  missions  were  not  dependent  on  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  for  supplies  any  more  than  the  Sandwich  Islands  were,  or 
the  American  Fur  Company.  If  such  were  the  fact,  that  they  were 
dependent  upon  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  the  missionaries  themselves 
and  the  Boards  that  sent  them  to  Oregon  must  have  been  a  set  of 
foolish  men,  not  competent  to  conduct  the  commonest  affairs  of  life. 
The  idea  that  seven  men  and  two  women  should  be  sent  to  a  distant 
wilderness  and  savage  country,  and  no  provisions  made  for  their  sub 
sistence  and  future  supplies,  is  one  originated  without  a  soul,  a  lie  to 
produce  effect,  a  slander  upon  common  honesty  and  common-sense 
Christianity.  Whitman's  party  left  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  a  better 
set  of  tools  than  could  be  found  in  Vancouver.  They  brought  seeds  of 
all  kinds.  They  had  no  occasion  to  ask  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
a  single  seed  for  farming  purposes,  a  single  thing  in  establishing  their 
mission, — only  as  they  had  disposed  of  things  at  the  suggestion  of 
McLeod  and  McKay  as  unnecessary  to  pack  them  further.  Arrangements 
were  made  to  forward  around  Cape  Horn,  as  soon  as  was  deemed  neces- 


HISTORY  OP  OREGON". 

sary,  such  articles  and  supplies  as  might  be  required.  Rev.  Jason  Lee 
and  party  did  not  arrive  in  the  country  (as  those  who  have  all  along 
attempted  to  insinuate  and  make  a  stranger  to  the  facts  believe,  and  in 
1865  claim  the  sum  of  $3,822,036.67  for  stealing  credit  due  to  others, 
and  preventing  the  good  others  might  have  done  to  the  natives  in  ad 
vancing  them  in  the  scale  of  civilization)  destitute  and  dependent  upon 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  for  supplies.  On  the  contrary,  by  the  time 
they  had  selected  their  station,  the  goods  on  the  brig  May  Dacre  had 
arrived,  and  were  ready  to  be  landed  at  the  lower  mouth  of  the  Wal- 
lamet  River.  These  goods,  whether  suitable  or  not,  were  all  received 
and  conveyed  to  the  station  selected  by  Mr.  Lee  by  the  6th  of  October. 
The  rainy  season  soon  commenced  ;  they  had  no  shelter  for  themselves 
or  their  goods.  All  old  Oregonians  who  have  not  been  seduced  and 
brought  up  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  can  comprehend  the  condi 
tion  they  were  in.  Rev.  Jason  Lee,  like  Dr.  Whitman  with  his  old 
wagon,  had  undertaken  a  work  he  meant  to  accomplish.  His  religion 
was  practical.  Work,  labor,  preach,  and  practice  his  own  precepts, 
and  demonstrate  the  truth  of  his  own  doctrines.  Religion  and  labor 
were  synonymous  with  him,  and  well  did  the  noble  Shepard,  though 
but  a  lay  member  of  the  mission  and  the  church,  labor  and  sustain 
him.  These  two  men  were  really  the  soul  and  life  of  the  mission,  as 
Dr.  Whitman  and  Mrs.  Spalding  were  of  the  American  Board.  Dur 
ing  the  first  winter,  1834-5,  they  were  wholly  occupied  in  building 
their  houses  and  preparing  for  the  cultivation  of  the  land  for  their  own 
subsistence.  There  was  no  alternative ;  it  was  work  or  starve.  Rev. 
Jason  Lee  set  the  example.  He  held  the  plow,  with  an  Indian  boy  to 
drive,  in  commencing  his  farming  operations.  The  first  year  they  pro 
duced  enough  for  home  consumption  in  wheat,  peas,  oats,  and  barley, 
and  abundance  of  potatoes,  with  a  few  barrels  of  salt  salmon.  The 
superintendent  of  the  mission  put  up  at  the  Wallamet  Falls  late  in  the 
season  of  1834.  They  had  a  supply  of  their  own  for  the  first  year.  It 
is  true  they  did  not  have  superfine  flour  to  eat,  but  they  had  plenty  of 
pounded  and  boiled  wheat,  and  a  change  to  pea  and  barley  soup,  with 
oats  for  the  chickens  they  had  received  from  the  vessel. 

Daniel  Lee  soon  falls  sick,  and  Edwards  becomes  dissatisfied.  They 
both  arrange  to  leave  the  country  on  the  May  Dacre.  Rev.  D.  Lee  is 
advised  to  go  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  Edwards  is  induced  to 
undertake  an  independent  school  at  Champoeg. 

Shepard  toils  on  with  his  Indian  and  half-native  school.  Mr.  Lee 
p-eaches  and  labors  at  the  mission  among  the  French,  and  at  Van 
couver. 

In  October,  1835,  Rev.  S.  Parker  arrived  at  Vancouver.     In  Novem- 


NO  WHITE  FEMALE  INFLUENCE. 

ber  he  made  a  flying  visit  to  Mr.  Lee's  mission.  His  Presbyterian 
spectacles  were  not  adapted  to  correct  observations'  on  Methodist 
Episcopal  missions.  He  was  inclined  to  pronounce  their  efforts  a  fail 
ure.  This  impression  of  Mr.  Parker's  arose  from  the  fact,  that  no  female 
influence,  except  that  of  the  natives  of  the  country,  was  seen  or  felt 
about  the  mission.  His  impressions  were  also  quite  unfavorable  to  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  from  the  same  cause.  These  impressions  were, 
at  the  suggestion  of  the  writer,  omitted  in  his  first  published  journal. 
Four  months  after  Mr.  Parker's  visit  to  Mr.  Lee's  mission,  we  find  the 
gentlemen  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  making  a  handsome  donation 
to  Mr.  Lee's  mission  of  $130,  including  a  handsome  prayer  for  a  bless 
ing  upon  their  labors,  in  the  following  words:  "And  they  pray  our 
heavenly  Father,  without  whose  assistance  we  can  do  nothing,  that  of 
his  infinite  mercy  he  may  vouchsafe  to  bless  and  prosper  your  pious 
endeavors."  This  is  signed  in  behalf  of  the  donors  by  John  McLaughlin. 
11 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Arrival  of  Rev.  Mr.  Beaver  and  wife. — His  opinion  of  the  company. — A  double-wedding1. 
— Mrs.  Spalding  and  Mrs.  Whitman  at  Vancouver. — Men  explore  the  country  and 
locate  stations. — Their  opinion  of  the  country. — Indian  labor. — A  wintgr  trip  down 
Snake  River. 

NOTHING  of  note  occurred  till  about  the  middle  of  August,  1836. 
The  bark  JVereus  arrived  from  England,  bringing  back  Rev.  Daniel 
Lee,  recovered  from  his  sickness  while  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and 
Rev.  Mr.  Beaver  and  lady,  an  English  Episcopal  clergyman,  as  chaplain 
to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  at  Fort  Vancouver.  Mr.  Beaver  was  a 
man  below  the  medium  height,  light  brown  hair,  gray  eyes,  light  com 
plexion,  a  feminine  voice,  with  large  pretensions  to  oratory,  a  poor 
delivery,  and  no  energy.  His  ideas  of  clerical  dignity  were  such,  that 
he  felt  himself  defiled  and  polluted  in  descending  to  the  "  common  herd 
of  savages  "  he  found  on  arriving  at  Vancouver.  "  The  governor  was 
uncivil,  the  clerks  were  boors,  the  women  were  savages.  There  was  not 
an  individual  about  the  establishment  he  felt  he  could  associate  with." 
This  feeling  was  shared  largely  by  Mrs.  Beaver,  who,  from  the  little  I 
saw  of  her  at  a  double-wedding  party  at  her  own  house,  I  concluded, 
felt  she  was  condescending  greatly  in  permitting  her  husband  to  per 
form  the  services. 

She  appeared  totally  indifferent  to  the  whole  performance,  so  far  as 
giving  it  an  approving  smile,  look,  or  word.  The  occasion  was  the 
marriage  of  the  youngest  daughter  of  Dr.  McLaughlin  to  Mr.  Ray ; 
and  of  Miss  Nelia  Comilly  to  Mr.  James  Douglas,  since  governor  of 
Vancouver  Island  and  British  Columbia. 

While  at  Vancouver,  I  met  Mr.  Beaver  once  outside  the  fort,  with  his 
dog  and  gun.  From  what  I  could  learn  of  him,  he  was  fond  of  hunting 
and  fishing ; — much  more  so  than  of  preaching  to  the  "  ignorant  savages 
in  the  fort,"  as  he  called  the  gentlemen  and  servants  of  the  company. 
"They  were  not  sufficiently  enlightened  to  appreciate  good  sermons, 
and  to  conform  to  the  English  church  service.  However,  as  he  was  the 
chaplain  in  charge,  by  virtue  of  his  appointment  received  from  the 
executive  committee  and  governor  in  London,  he  had  rights  superior  to 
any  half-savage,  pretended  gentlemen  at  this  establishment,  and  he  would 
let  them  know  what  they  were,  before  they  were  done  with  him ;  he  did 


ABUSE  OF  REV.  MR.  BEAVER.  163 

not  come  to  this  wilderness  to  be  ordered  and  dictated  to  by  a  set  of 
half-savages,  who  did  not  know  the  difference  between  a  prayer-book 
and  an  otter  skin,  and  yet  they  presumed  to  teach  him  morals  and  reli- 
o-ion."  This  tirade,  as  near  as  I  could  learn,  was  elicited  from  his 
reverence  soon  after  he  arrived,  on  account  of  some  supposed  neglect 
or  slight  offered  by  Dr.  McLaughlin,  in  not  furnishing  his  quarters  in 
the  style  he  had  expected.  On  reaching  the  post,  in  place  of  a  splendid 
parsonage,  well  fitted  up,  and  servants  to  do  his  bidding,  he  found 
what  in  early  California  times  would  be  called  an  ordinary  balloon 
house,  made  of  rough  boards,  the  floors  (I  think)  not  planed,  and  no 
carpets  upon  them,  and  none  in  the  country  to  put  upon  them,  except 
the  common  flag  mats  the  Indians  manufacture ;  and  these  the  Rev. 
Mrs.  Beaver  considered  "  too  filthy  to  step  upon,  or  be  about  the  house." 
In  addition  to  these  very  important  matters  (judging  from  the  fuss 
they  made  about  them),  "the  doctor  and  all  the  pretended  gentlemen 
of  the  company  were  living  in  adultery.  This  was  a  horrible  crime  he 
could  not,  and  would  not,  put  up  with ;  he  could  scarcely  bring  himself 
to  perform  the  church  service  in  so  polluted  an  audience."  We  had 
never  been  confirmed  in  the  English  church,  and,  consequently,  did  not 
feel  at  liberty  to  offer  any  advice  after  listening  to  this  long  tirade  of 
abuse  of  the  members  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  by  his  reverence. 
A  short  time  after,  Mr.  Beaver  met  Dr.  McLaughlin  in  front  of  the  house, 
and  commenced  urging  him  to  comply  with  the  regulations  of  the  Eng 
lish  church.  The  doctor  had  been  educated  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
faith ;  he  did  not  acknowledge  Mr.  Beaver's  right  to  dictate  a  religious 
creed  to  him,  hence  he  was  not  prepared  to  conform  wholly  to  the  Eng 
lish  church  service.  Among  other  subjects,  that  of  marriage  was  men 
tioned,  Rev.  Mr.  Beaver  insisting  that  the  doctor  should  be  married 
in  accordance  with  the  church  service.  The  doctor  claimed  the  right 
to  be  married  by  whom  he  pleased,  and  that  Mr.  Beaver  was  interfering 
and  meddling  with  other  than  his  parochial  duties.  This  led  his  rev 
erence  to  boil  over  and  spill  out  a  portion  of  the  contemptuous  feelings 
he  had  cherished  from  the  moment  he  landed  at  the  place.  The  doctor, 
not  being  in  the  habit  from  his  youth  of  calmly  listening  to  vulgar  and 
abusive  language,  especially  when  addressed  to  his  face,  laid  aside  his 
reverence  for  the  cloth,  as  also  the  respect  due  to  his  position  and  age, 
and  gave  Rev.  Mr.  Beaver  a  caning,  some  say  kicking,  causing  his  rev 
erence  to  retreat,  and  abruptly  suspend  enforcing  moral  lessons  in  con 
formity  to  church  usage.  Rev.  Mrs.  Beaver  very  naturally  sympathized 
with  her  husband,  and  they  soon  made  arrangements  and  left  the 
country,  to  report  their  case  at  head-quarters  in  London,  Dr.  McLaugh 
lin  chose  to  comply  with  civil  usage,  and  as  James  Douglas  had  received 


164:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

a  commission  from  her  Majesty  as  civil  magistrate  under  the  English 
law,  acting  as  justice  of  the  peace,  he  united  Dr.  John  McLaughlin  in 
marriage  to  Mrs.  Margaret  McKay,  whose  first  husband  had  been  lost 
in  the  destruction  of  the  bark  Tonqitin  some  years  previous.  This 
wedding  occurred  at  Vancouver,  about  the  end  of  January,  1837.  The 
doctor  was  married  privately,  by  Esquire  Douglas,  either  a  short  time 
before,  or  a  few  days  after,  I  have  not  yet  learned  which. 

Rev.  Mr.  Beaver  and  lady  arrived  at  Vancouver  about  four  weeks 
before  Mrs.  Spalding  and  Mrs.  Whitman.  The  gentlemen  of  the  com 
pany,  like  the  rough  mountaineers  who  paid  their  respect  to  Mrs. 
Whitman  and  Mrs,  Spalding  at  the  American  rendezvous,  attempted 
to  be  polite  and  kind  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beaver.  They  most  emphati 
cally  failed.  The  parsonage  was  a  terror  to  them.  They  had  become 
objects  of  contempt,  scorn,  and  derision  in  the  estimation  of  their 
religious  guide  and  moral  patron.  Their  wives  and  children  were 
looked  upon  as  filthy  savages,  not  fit  to  associate  with  decent  people. 
This  feeling  was  so  strong  in  the  chaplain  and  his  wife  that  it  leaked 
out  in  very  injudicious  and  indiscreet  expressions  of  disapproval  of 
actions  and  conduct,  that,  in  a  refined  and  polished  society,  would  be 
considered  offensive ;  yet  these  traders  and  Indian  merchants,  not  hav 
ing  been  in  refined  society  for  many  years,  did  not  understand  or  com 
prehend  their  own  awkwardness  and  want  of  more  refinement.  They  had 
forgotten  that,  in  the  progress  of  society,  six  hundred  years  had  passed 
since  their  great  great  grandmothers  were  like  the  women  they  saw  about 
them  every  day.  They  forgot  that  Mrs.  Beaver  was  an  English  clergy 
man's  wife,  and  claimed  to  belong  to  the  best  English  society.  They 
thought  there  was  but  little  difference  in  womankind  ;  in  short,  they  were 
much  better  qualified  to  deal  with  Indians  than  with  civilians.  Under  such 
circumstances,  and  Avith  such  feelings  existing  in  Fort  Vancouver,  the 
reader  will  not  be  astonished  at  the  reception  of  two  ladies  who  could 
interest  and  command  the  esteem  and  respect  of  the  savage,  the  moun 
tain  hunter,  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  fur  trader.  They  came 
among  them  expecting  nothing  but  rough  treatment ;  any  little  mis 
takes  were  overlooked  or  treated  as  a  jest.  They  knew  no  distinction 
in  classes ;  they  were  polite  to  the  servant  and  the  master  ;  their  society 
was  agreeable  and  refining;  not  the  least  insult  in  word,  or  look,  or  act, 
was  ever  given  them  by  any  white  man ;  their  courage  had  been  tested 
in  the  trip  they  had  performed ;  their  conversation  and  accomplish 
ments  surprised  and  delighted  those  permitted  to  enjoy  their  acquaint 
ance,  and,  as  Mr.  tlines,  in  his  history  of  the  Oregon  mission,  says,  "these 
were  the  first  American  women  that  ever  crossed  the  Rockv  Mountains, 
and  their  arrival  formed  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  Oregon" 


HUNTING  A  STATION.  165 

Our  mission  party,  with  Captain  Pambrun,  his  two  boats  loaded,  two- 
thirds  of  the  goods  for  the  mission,  on  their  way  up  the  Columbia  River, 
arrived  all  safe  at  the  Dalles.      Gray  took  a  decided  stand  in  favor 
of  the  first  location  at  that  point,  on  account  of  its  accessibility,  and  the 
general  inclination  of  all  the  Indians  in  the  country  to  gather  at  those 
salmon  fisheries ;  Spalding  and  Pambrun  opposed ;  Whitman  was  unde 
cided  ;  Pambrun  would  not  wait  to  give  time  to  explore,  nor  assist  in 
getting  horses  for  the  Doctor  and  Gray  to  look  at  the  country  in  view 
of  a  location.     On  we  go ;  make  the  portages  at  La  Chute  ;  reach  John 
Day's  River;  Pambrun  leaves  boats  in  charge  of  Whitman  and  Gray, 
and  goes  to  Wallawalla  on  horseback.     In  four  days'  hard  pulling, 
towing,  and  sailing,  we  reach  Wallawalla  all  safe  ;  find  cattle  and  horses 
all  improving,  arid  every  thing  in  order,  that  is,  as  good  order  as  could 
be   expected ;    boats    discharged,   goods   all   carefully   stored.      Next 
morning,  early,  a  fine  band  of  Cayuse  horses  came  into  the  fort ;  four 
fine  ones  were  selected  and  saddled,  an  extra  pack  animal  with  travel 
ing  case  and  kitchen  furniture,  tent  for  camping,  and  provisions  all 
ready,  a  servant  with  two  Indians,  all  mounted,  off  we  go  up  the  Walla 
walla  River  about  twenty-five  miles.      Most  of  the  land  we  passed 
over  we  pronounced  barren,  and  good  for  nothing  except  grazing  cat 
tle,  sheep,  and  horses.     In  the  bends  of  the  river,  saw  a  few  acres  of 
land  that  might  be  cultivated  if  arrangements  could  be  made  to  irri 
gate.     Passed  the  Tuchet,  but  did  not  consider  its  appearance  justified 
much  delay  to  examine  it  closely,  though  the  whole  bottom  was  covered 
with  a  heavy  coat  of  tali  rye  grass ;  went  on  into  the  forks  of  the  Walla 
walla  and  Mill  Creek  (as  it  is  now  called),  pitched  our  tent  at  the  place 
where  Whitman's  station  was  afterward  built,  got  our  suppers.    Whit 
man  and  Gray  took  a  look  around  the  place,  went  into  the  bends  in  the 
river,  looked  at  the  cotton-wood  trees,  the  little  streams  of  water,  and 
all  about  till  dark;  came  back  to  camp  ;  not  much  said.     Mr.  Pambrun 
explained  the  quality  of  the  soil,  and  what  would  produce  corn,  what 
potatoes,  and  what  would  produce  (as  he  thought)  wheat,  though  he 
had  not  tried  it  thoroughly ;  or,  rather,  he  had  tried  it  on  a  small  scale 
and  failed.     A  few  Cayuses  came  about  camp  at  night.     Next  morning 
up  early ;  breakfast  over,  some  fine  fresh  Cayuse  horses  were  brought 
up,  ready  to  mount.     We  proceeded  through  the  valley  in  several  direc 
tions  ;  rode  all  day  and  returned  to  camp  at  night,  stopping  occasionally 
to  pull  up  a  weed  or  a  bush,  to  examine  the  quality  of  the  soil. 

At  night,  if  an  artist  could  have  been  present  and  taken  a  picture  of 
the  group  and  the  expressions  of  countenance,  it  certainly  would  have 
been  interesting  :  Spalding,  Whitman,  Pambrun,  and  Gray  discuss 
ing  the  quality  of  the  soil,  the  future  prospects  of  a  mission,  and  of  the 


166  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

natives  it  was  contemplated  to  gather  around.  No  white  settlement 
was  then  thought  of.  They  unanimously  concluded  that  there  was  but 
a  limited  amount  of  land  susceptible  of  cultivation,  estimated  at  thu 
place  for  the  station  at  about,  ten  acres.  Along  all  the  streams  and  at 
the  foot  of  the  Blue  Mountains,  there  might  be  found  little  patches  of 
from  half  an  acre  to  six  acres  of  land  suitable  to  cultivate  for  the  use 
of  the  natives.  This,  to  say  the  least,  was  not  an  overestimate  of  the 
qualities  of  the  soil  that  has  proved,  by  twenty-five  years'  cultivation 
without  manure,  to  be  richer  to-day  than  soils  of  a  different  character 
with  all  the  manuring  they  have  received.  The  great  objection  and 
most  discouraging  indication  to  the  party  was  the  unlimited  amount  of 
caustic  alkali  found  all  over  those  plains  and  all  through  the  valley. 
This  fact  alone  proves  the  soil  inexhaustible.  All  it  requires  is  suffi 
cient  water  to  wash  from  the  surface  the  superabundant  alkali  that 
forms  upon  it.  Any  cereals  adapted  to  alkaline  soil  may  be  cultivated 
to  any  extent  in  those  valleys. 

A  stake  was  set  to  mark  the  place.  Next  day  all  returned  to  the 
fort,  and  soon  the  mission  tents,  horses,  goods,  and  cattle  were  upon 
the  ground  and  work  commenced.  The  Indians,  what  few  had  not  gone 
for  buffalo,  came  to  our  camp  and  rendered  all  the  assistance  they 
were  capable  of  in  getting  a  house  up  and  covered. 

In  a  few  days  Spalding  and  Whitman  started  with  the  Nez  Perces 
to  look  at  their .  country,  in  view  of  a  location  among  them,  leaving 
Gray  alone  in  charge  of  the  building  and  goods,  while  they  exam 
ined  the  country  up  the  Clearwater  River,  and  selected  a  location  in  a 
beautiful  valley  about  two  miles  up  the  Lapwai  Creek,  and  about 
twelve  miles  from  Lewiston.  Whitman  returned  to  assist  in  erecting; 
buildings  at  his  station.  Spalding  started  for  Vancouver,  to  bring  up 
the  ladies.  About  the  middle  of  November,  Mrs.  Whitman's  quarters 
were  ready,  and  she  came  to  occupy  them.  Spalding  and  Gray,  Avith 
Mrs.  Spalding,  started  for  the  Lapwai  station  ;  arrived  about  the  1st 
of  December,  1836,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Indians,  ID  about 
twenty  days  a  house  was  up,  and  Mrs.  Spalding  occupied  it. 

It  is  due  to  those  Indians  to  say  that  they  labored  freely  and  faith 
fully,  and  showed  the  best  of  feelings  toward  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spalding, 
paying  good  attention  to  instructions  given  them,  and  appeared  quite 
anxious  to  learn  all  they  could  of  their  teachers.  It  is  also  due  to  truth 
to  state  that  Mr.  Spalding  paid  them  liberally  for  their  services  when 
compared  with  the  amount  paid  them  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
for  the  same  service:  say,  for  bringing  a  pine-log  ten  feet  long  and  om> 
foot  in  diameter  from  the  Clearwater  River  to  the  station,  it  usually 
took  about  twelve  Indians  ;  for  this  service  Mr.  Spalding  paid  them 


A  WINTER  TRIP. 

about  six  inches  of  trail-rope  tobacco  each.  This  was  about  four  times  as  ' 
much  as  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  paid.  This  fact  soon  created  a 
little  feeling  of  unfriendliness  toward  Mr.  Spalding.  Dr.  Whitman 
managed  to  get  along  with  less  Indian  labor,  and  was  able,  from  his 
location,  to  procure  stragglers  or  casual  men  to  work  for  him  for  a 
lime,  to  get  supplies  and  clothing  to  help  them  on  their  way  down  to 
the  Wallamet  settlement. 

Mr.  Spalding  and  Dr.  Whitman  were  located  in  their  little  cabins 
making  arrangements  to  get  in  their  gardens  and  spring  crops,  teaching 
the  Indians  by  example,  and  on  the  Sabbath  interpreting  portions  of 
the  Bible  to  them,  and  giving  them  such  religious  instruction  as  they 
were  capable  of  communicating  with  their  imperfect  knowledge  of  their 
language ;  Mrs.  Whitman  and  Mrs.  Spalding  teaching  the  children  at 
their  respective  stations  as  much  as  was  possible  for  them  with  their 
domestic  duties  to  perform. 

All  things  going  on  smoothly  at  the  stations  and  all  over  the  Indian 
country,  it  was  thought  advisable  for  Gray  to  visit  Vancouver,  procure 
the  requisite  spring  supplies,  and  a  suitable  outfit  for  himself  to  explore 
the  country,  having  in  view  further  missionary  locations,  and  return  to 
the  United  States  and  procure  assistance  for  the  mission.  Gray's  expe 
dition,  as  contemplated  then,  would  not  be  considered  with  present 
facilities  a  very  light  one.  He  started  from  Spal ding's  station  about 
the  22d  of  December,  1836.  There  had  been  about  twenty  inches  of 
snow  upon  the  ground,  but  it  was  concluded  from  the  fine  weather 
at  the  station  that  most  of  it  had  melted  off.  On  reaching  the  forks 
of  Clear  water  (Lewiston),  he  learned  from  the  Indians  that  the  snow 
was  too  deep  to  go  by  land,  sent  his  horses  back  to  Spalding,  got 
an  Indian  dug-out,  started  from  Lewiston  for  Walla  walla  with  two 
Indians  to  pilot  and  paddle  the  canoe ;  reached  the  Paluce  all  safe ; 
camped  with  the  Indians  ;  found  them  all  friendly  ;  that  night  came  on 
bitter  cold  ; — river  full  of  floating  ice  ;  Indians  concluded  not  safe  to 
proceed  further  in  canoe;  procure  horses  and  start  down  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  river  ;  travel  all  day;  toward  night,  in  passing  over  a  high 
point,  snow-storm  came  on,  lost  our  trail;  struck  a  canon,  followed  it 
down,  found  the  river  and  camped  in  the  snow,  turned  our  horses  into 
the  tall  grass  and  made  the  best  of  a  snow-camp  for  the  night.  Next 
day  start  early;  wallow  through  the  snow  and  drifts  and  reach  an 
Indian  camp  near  the  mouth  of  Snake  River  at  night ;  leave  horses ; 
next  morning  get  canoe,  leave  one  Paluce  Indian ;  Paluce  chief  and 
chief  of  band  at  Snake  River  in  canoe ;  two  Indians  to  paddle ;  pull 
down  the  river  into  the  Columbia  in  the  floating  ice,  and  reach  Walla- 
walla,  December  26, 1836  ;  Pambrun  pays  Indians  what  he  thinks  right : 


168  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Paluce  chief,  for  horses  and  services,  one  three-point  Hudson's  Bay 
blanket,  one  check  shirt,  one  knife,  half  a  brace  (three  feet)  trail-rope 
tobacco.  Gray  thought  the  price  paid  was  very  reasonable,  — quite  lit 
tle  enough  for  the  labor,  to  say  nothing  of  the  risk  and  suffering  from 
cold  on  the  trip.  The  river  all  closed  up ;  Indians  did  not  reach  their 
homes  for  eight  days ;  no  communication  in  any  direction  for  ten  days. 
About  the  tenth  day  Whitman  sends  orders  down  for  goods  to  be 
shipped  from  Vancouver.  About  the  10th  of  January,  ISSY,  Mr. 
Errnatinger  arrived  from  Colville  by  boat,  having  made  several  portages 
over  ice  in  reaching  Wallawalla.  Next  day  we  start  down  the  river  ; 
pass  through  and  over  several  fields  of  ice ;  reach  Vancouver  about  the 
12th  of  January.  Rev.  J.  Lee  and  Mr.  Slacum  had  just  left  the  fort  as 
our  party  arrived.  We  have  previously  given  an  account  of  the  sub 
jects  of  special  interest,  and  also  of  the  weddings  that  occurred  about 
this  time  at  the  fort. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

The  French  and  American  settlers. — Hudson's  Bay  Company's  traveling  traders. — The 
Flatheads. — Their  manner  of  traveling. — Marriage. — Their  honesty.— Indian  fight 
and  scalp  dance. — Making  peace. — Fight  with  the  Sioux. — At  Council  Bluffs. 

THE  reader  is  already  acquainted  with  all  of  the  first  missionaries, 
and  with  the  governing  power  and  policy  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany,  and  of  the  different  parties  and  organizations  as  they  existed.  We 
will  now  introduce  parties  of  men  as  we  find  them  in  the  Wallamet 
settlement. 

There  were  at  this  time  about  fifty  Canadian-Frenchmen  in  the  Wal 
lamet  settlement,  all  of  them  retired  servants  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  These  men,  who  had  spent  the  most  active  part  of  their 
lives  in  the  service  of  the  company,  had  become  connected  with  native 
women,  and  nearly  all  of  them  had  their  families  of  half-native  children. 
This  class  of  servants  were  found  by  the  experience  of  the  company  not 
as  profitable  for  their  purposes  as  the  enlisted  men  from  the  Orkney 
Isles,  or  even  the  Sandwich  Islanders. 

They  were  induced  to  allow  those  that  had  families  of  half-native 
children  to  retire  from  the  service  and  settle  in  the  Wallamet.  In  this  man 
ner  they  expected  to  hold  a  controlling  influence  in  the  settlement,  and 
secure  a  population  dependent  upon  them  for  supplies.  It  was  upon 
this  half-breed  population  that  they  relied  to  rally  the  Indian  warriors 
of  the  country  to  prevent  an  American  settlement.  As  was  plainly 
stated  by  one  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  Mr.  F.  Ermatinger,  in  the 
fall  of  1838,  in  case  any  effort  should  be  made  to  remove  them  from  the 
country,  they  had  but  to  arm  the  eight  hundred  half-breeds  the  company 
had,  and,  with  the  Indians  they  could  control,  they  could  hold  the  coun 
try  against  any  American  force  that  could  be  sent  into  it.  The  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company  knew  very  well  the  power  and  influence  they  had 
secured  over  the  Indians.  There  was  then  too  small  a  number  of  outside 
Americans  to  make  any  effort  to  remove  them,  other  than  to  afford 
them  facilities  to  leave  the  country.  With  all  the  facilities  they  fur 
nished,  and  encouragement  they  gave  to  go  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  and 
to  California,  there  was  a  gradual  increase  of  the  population  the  com 
pany  did  not  wish  to  see ; — sailors  from  vessels,  and  hunters  from  the 
mountains.  These  sailors  and  hunters  naturally  gathered  around  the 


170  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

American  mission  ;  many  of  them  had,  or  soon  took,  native  women  for 
wives ;  the  missionaries  themselves  encouraged  them  to  marry  these 
women.  This  soon  commenced  an  influence  exactly  like  that  held  by 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  through  their  Canadian-French  settlement. 
The  moral  and  religious  influence  of  the  English  church  had  not  been 
favorably  received  at  Vancouver. 

•  Gray  procures  his  outfit  at  Vancouver,  in  January,  1837,  and  starts 
in  company  with  Ermatinger  on  his  return.  First  night  camp  at  a  saw 
mill  ;  meet  a  young  man  who  had  crossed  the  mountains  with  Captain 
Wyeth,  and  had  remained  as  clerk  at  Fort  Hall,  under  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company.  This  young  man  has  never  risen  very  high  in  the  com 
munity  where  he  resides.  For  a  time  he  considered  he  was  an  import 
ant  member  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  His  self-approbation  Avas 
superior  to  the  profits  he  brought  to  the  company,  and  they  found  it, 
convenient  to  drop  him  from  their  employ.  He  attempted  a  settlement 
out  of  the  limits  prescribed  for  Americans,  and  was  soon  compelled  to 
locate  himself  under  the  influence  of  the  Methodist  Mission. 

There  was  also  in  the  settlement  another  young  man,  who  about  that 
time  had  taken  a  native  wife  and  wished  to  locate  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  River.  This  privilege  was  denied  him,  unless  he  could  pro 
cure  some  others  to  go  with  him.  He  had  joined  the  Methodist  class, 
and  was  considered  a  reliable  man ;  he  came  to  the  country  with  Cap 
tain  Wyeth,  and  had  opened  and  taught  the  first  school  ever  commenced 
in  the  country. 

Ermatinger  and  company  were  detained  fourteen  days  under  the  lee 
of  a  big  rock  just  opposite  Cape  Horn,  waiting  for  the  east  wind  to 
subside  and  allow  them  to  pass  up  the  river.  Ermatinger  was  a  travel 
ing  trader  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  That  year  he  was  with 
the  Flathead  tribe.  Gray  continued  with  him,  having  his  own  tent  and 
traveling  equipage.  The  route  traveled  was  nearly  that  since  explored 
and  located  as  Mullan's  military  road.  We  struck  the  Coeur  d'Alene 
Lake  and  took  boats,  passed  through  the  lake  and  up  the  Flathead  River, 
making  two  portages  with  our  boats  and  goods  before  we  reached  Flat- 
head  House,  as  it  was  called,  a  common  log  hut,  covered  with  poles 
and  dirt,  about  16  by  20.  At  this  point  our  horses  came  up.  Their 
packs  and  equipage  were  all  put  on  board  the  boats,  while  the  horses 
came  light  through  the  woods  and  along  the  rough  river  trail.  At  the 
place  where  we  found  our  boats,  we  found  a  number  of  friendly  Indians, 
also  at  the  head  of  the  lake,  and  a  few  at  the  Flathead  House  or  hut. 
Here  we  found  an  old  Frenchman  in  charge,  with  a  small  supply  of 
goods,  and  about  two  packs  of  beaver  which  he  had  collected  during 
the  winter. 


FLATHEAD   CAMP. 

We  were  joined  by  a  part  of  the  Flathead  tribe.  In  a  few  days  all 
were  ready.  The  tribe  and  trader  started  over  the  mountains  on  to  the 
waters  of  the  Missouri,  to  hunt  the  buffalo  and  fight  the  Blackfeet.  Our 
route  was  along  the  main  branch  of  Clark's  fork  of  the  Columbia,  till 
we  reached  the  Culas  Patlum  (Bitter  Root).  A  halt  was  made  to 
allow  the  natives  to  dig  and  prepare  the  root  for  the  season.  The  root 
is  quite  nutritious,  answering  the  Indian  in  place  of  bread;  it  is  some 
what  bitter  in  taste,  and  to  a  person  not  accustomed  to  its  use,  is  not  a, 
very  agreeable  diet.  This  root  secured  for  the  season,  the  camp  con 
tinued  over  the  dividing  ridge  into  the  Big  Hole,  or  Jefferson  fork  of 
the  Missouri.  In  this  place  we  were  joined  by  the  balance  of  the  buffalo 
Indians.  All  parties,  persons,  and  property  were  carried  upon  horses. 
The  camps  usually  traveled  from  ten  to  fifteen  miles  per  day.  It  is  due 
to  this  tribe  to  say  that  truth,  honesty,  and  virtue  were  cardinal  prin 
ciples  in  all  their  transactions.  An  article  of  property  found  during  the 
day  was  carried  to  an  old  chief's  lodge  ;  if  it  were  so  light  that  he 
could  hold  it  in  his  hand  and  walk  through  the  camp,  he  would  pass 
around  and  inquire  whose  it  was.  Sometimes  several  articles  would  be 
lost  and  picked  up  ;  in  such  cases  the  old  chief  would  go  through  the 
camp  on  horseback  and  deliver  them  to  the  owner. 

Their  system  of  courtship  and  marriage  was  equally  interesting.  A 
youth  wishing  to  marry  a  young  iniss  was  required  to  present  a  horse 
at  the  lodge  of  his  intended,  ready  for  her  to  mount  as  the  camp  should 
move.  In  case  all  were  suited,  her  ladyship  would  mount  the  horse  and 
ride  it  during  the  day ;  at  night  a  feast  was  had  at  the  lodge  of  the 
bride,  the  old  chief  announced  the  ceremony  complete,  and  the  parties 
proceeded  to  their  own  home  or  lodge.  In  case  the  suit  was  rejected 
the  horse  was  not  suitable ;  he  was  left  for  the  owner  to  receive  at  his 
pleasure;  the  maid  mounted  her  own  horse  and  proceeded  about  her 
business. 

In  case  of  any  visitors  from  other  tribes,  which  they  frequently  had 
in  going  to  buffalo,  they  would  caution  a  stranger,  and  inform  him  of 
the  propensity  to  steal  which  they  had  learned  was  the  habit  of  the 
Indian  visitor.  This  tribe  claim  to  have  never  shed  the  blood  of  a 
white  man.  I  believe  it  is  the  only  tribe  on  the  continent  truly  entitled 
to  that  honor;  yet  they  are  far  more  brave  as  a  tribe  than  any  other 
Indians.  They  never  fear  a  foe,  no  matter  how  numerous. 

Our  sketches  perhaps  would  not  lose  in  interest  by  giving  a  short 
account  of  a  fight  which  our  Flathead  Indians  had  at  this  place  with  a 
war  party  of  the  Blackfeet,  It  occurred  near  the  present  location  of 
Helena,  in  Montana.  As  was  the  custom  with  the  Flathead  Indians  in 
traveling  in  the  buffalo  country,  their  hunters  and  warriors  were  in 


172  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

advance  of  the  main  camp.  A  party  of  twenty-five  Blaekfeet  warriors 
was  discovered  by  some  twelve  of  our  Flatheads.  To  see  each  other 
was  to  fight,  especially  parties  prowling  about  in  this  manner,  and  at  it 
they  went.  The  first  fire  of  the  Flatheads  brought  five  of  the  Blackfeet 
to  the  ground  and  wounded  some  five  more.  This  was  more  than  they 
expected,  and  the  Blackfeet  made  but  little  effort  to  recover  their  dead, 
which  were  duly  scalped,  an-d  the  bodies  left  for  food  for  the  wolves, 
and  the  scalps  borne  in  triumph  into  the  camp.  There  were  but  two 
of  the  Flatheads  wounded  :  one  had  a  flesh-wound  in  the  thigh,  and  the 
other  had  his  right  arm  broken  by  a  Blackfoot  ball. 

The  victory  was  complete,  and  the  rejoicing  in  camp  corresponded  to 
the  number  of  scalps  taken.  Five  days  and  nights  the  usual  scalp- 
dance  was  performed.  At  the  appointed  time  the  big  war-drum  was 
sounded,  when  the  warriors  and  braves  made  their  appearance  at  the 
appointed  place  in  the  open  air,  painted  as  warriors.  Those  who  had 
taken  the  scalps  from  the  heads  of  their  enemies  bore  them  in  their 
hands  upon  the  ramrods  of  their  guns. 

They  entered  the  circle,  and  the  war-song,  drums,  rattles,  and  noises 
all  commenced.  The  scalp-bearers  stood  for  a  moment  (as  if  to  catch 
the  time),  and  then  commenced  hopping,  jumping,  and  yelling  in  concert 
with  the  music.  This  continued  for  a  time,  when  some  old  painted 
women  took  the  scalps  and  continued  the  dance.  The  performance  was 
gone  through  with  as  many  nights  as  there  were  scalps  taken. 

Seven  days  after  the  scalps  were  tak.cn,  a  messenger  arrived  bearing 
a  white  flag,  and  a  proposition  to  make  peace  for  the  purposes  of  trade. 
After  the  preliminaries  had  all  been  completed,  in  which  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  trader  had  the  principal  part  to  perform,  the  time  was 
fixed  for  the  meeting  of  the  two  tribes.  The  Flatheads,  however,  were 
all  careful  to  dig  their  war-pits,  make  their  corrals  and  breastworks, 
and,  in  short,  fortify  their  camp  as  much  as  if  they  expected  a  fight 
instead  of  peace.  Ermatinger,  the  company's  trader,  remarked  that  he 
would  sooner  take  his  chances  for  a  fight  off-hand  than  endure  the 
anxiety  and  suspense  of  the  two  days  we  waited  for  the  Blackfeet  to 
arrive.  Our  scouts  and  warriors  were  all  ready,  and  all  on  the  watch 
for  peace  or  war,  the  latter  of  which,  from  the  recent  fight  they  had 
had,  was  expected  most.  At  length  the  Blackfeet  arrived,  bearing  a 
red  flag  with  H.  B.  C.  in  white  letters  upon  it,  and  advancing  to  within 
a  short  distance  of  the  camp,  were  met  by  Ermatinger  and  a  few  Flat- 
head  chiefs,  shook  hands,  and  were  conducted  to  the  trader's  lodge, — 
the  largest  one  in  the  camp, — and  the  principal  chiefs  of  both  tribes, 
seated  upon  buffalo  and  bear  skins,  all  went  through  with  the  ceremony 
of  smoking  a  big  pipe,  having  a  long  handle  or  stem  trimmed  with 


INDIAN  DELEGATION. 

horse-hair  and  porcupine  quills.  The  pipe  was  filled  with  the  trader's 
tobacco  and  the  Indians  killikinick.  The  war-chiefs  of  each  tribe  took 
a  puff  each  of  the  pipe,  passed  it  to  his  right-hand  man,  and  so  around 
till  all  the  circle  had  smoked  of  the  big  medicine  pipe,  or  pipe  of  peace, 
which  on  this  occasion  was  made  by  the  Indians  from  a  soft  stone  which 
they  find  in  abundance  in  their  country,  having  no  extra  ornamental 
work  upon  it.  The  principal  chief  in  command,  or  great  medicine  man, 
went  through  the  ceremony,  puffed  four  times,  blowing  his  smoke  in 
four  directions.  This  was  considered  a  sign  of  peace  to  all  around  him, 
which  doubtless  included  all  he  knew  any  thing  about.  The  Blackfeet, 
as  a  tribe,  are  a  tall,  well-formed,  slim-built,  and  active  people.  They 
travel  principally  on  foot,  and  are  considered  very  treacherous. 

The  peace  made  with  so  much  formality  was  broken  two  days  after 
ward  by  killing  two  of  the  Flatheads  when  caught  not  far  from  the 
main  camp. 

It  was  from  this  Flathead  tribe  that  the  first  Indian  delegation 
was  sent  to  ask  for  teachers.  Three  of  their  number  volunteered  to  go 
with  Gray  to  the  States  in  1837  to  urge  their  claims  for  teachers  to 
come  among  them.  The  party  reached  Ash  Hollow,  where  they  were 
attacked  by  about  three  hundred  Sioux  warriors,  and,  after  fighting  for 
three  hours,  killed  some  fifteen  of  them,  when  the  Sioux,  by  means  of  a 
French  trader  then  among  them,  obtained  a  parley  with  Gray  and  his 
traveling  companions, — two  young  men  that  had  started  to  go  to  the 
States  with  him.  While  the  Frenchman  was  in  conversation  with 
Gray,  the  treacherous  Sioux  made  a  rush  upon  the  three  Flatheads5  one 
Snake,  and  one  Iroquois  Indian  belonging  to  the  party,  and  killed  them. 
The  Frenchman  then  turned  to  Gray  and  told  him  and  his  companions 
they  were  prisoners,  and  must  go  to  the  Sioux  camp,  first  attempting 
to  get  possession  of  their  guns.  Gray  informed  them  at  once  :  "  You 
have  killed  our  Indians  in  a  cowardly  manner,  and  you  shall  not  have 
our  guns,"  at  the  same  time  telling  the  young  men  to  watch  the  first 
motion  of  the  Indians  to  take  their  lives,  and  if  we  must  die,  to  take 
as  many  Indians  with  us  as  we  could.  The  Sioux  had  found  in  the 
contest  thus  far,  that,  notwithstanding  they  had  conquered  and  killed 
five,  they  had  lost  fifteen,  among  them  one  of  their  war-chiefs,  besides 
several  severely  wounded.  The  party  were  not  further  molested  till 
they  reached  the  camp,  containing  between  one  and  two  hundred 
lodges.  A  full  explanation  was  had  of  the  whole  affair.  Gray  had 
two  horses  killed  under  him  and  two  balls  passed  through  his  hat, 
both  inflicting  slight  wounds.  The  party  were  feasted,  and  smoked 
the  pipe  of  peace  over  the  dead  body  of  the  chiefs  son;  next  day  they 
were  allowed  to  proceed  with  nine  of  their  horses ;  the  balance,  with 


174  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

the  property  of  the  Indians,  the  Sioux  claimed  as  part  pay  for  their 
losses,  doubtless  calculating  to  waylay  and  take  the  balance  of  the 
horses.  Be  that  as  it  may,  Gray  and  his  young  men  reached  Council 
Bluffs  in  twenty-one  days,  traveling  nights  and  during  storms  to  avoid 
the  Indians  on  the  plains. 

At  Council  Bluffs  they  found  an  Indian  trader  speaking  the  French 
language,  meaner  than  the  Sioux  Indian,  by  the  name  of  Papeon.  The 
party  had  been  twenty-one  days  on  rations  that  ordinarily  would  have 
been  consumed  in  four  days ;  they  had  killed  and  eaten  parts  of  two 
of  the  nine  worn-out  horses;  they  had  with  them  six.  The  party 
entered  the  trading  establishment  and  requested  some  food  and  the 
privilege  of  washing,  not  as  beggars,  but  expecting  to  pay  for  what 
they  required.  They  waited  an  hour  or  more ;  no  food  was  forthcom 
ing  ;  Gray  went  to  Papeon,  the  trader,  and  inquired  the  reason  they 
could  get  no  food.  The  old  French  imp  inquired,  in  his  broken  French, 
"Have  you  got  any  ting  to  pa  for  de  tings  you  vant ?"  He  was 
asked  if  gold  would  pay  him,  or  a  draft  on  his  company.  "  Oh,  yes," 
he  said,  and  in  a  short  time  food  and  what  was  required  was  produced. 

This  is  only  a  specimen  of  most  Indian  traders  of  the  Catholic 
stamp.  There  are  honorable  exceptions. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

Re-enforcement  to  the  Methodist  Mission. — Re-enforcement  to  the  mission  of  the  Ameri 
can  Board. 

WE  will  leave  Gray  and  party  on  their  way  clown  the  Missouri 
River,  and  return  to  Oregon  to  introduce  to  the  reader  a  re-en 
forcement  to  the  Methodist  Mission,  consisting  of  Dr.  Elijah  White, 
a  man  that  few  who  have  dealt  with  can  speak  well  of,  utterly  desti 
tute  of  all  morality  and  genuine  piety,  assuming  the  garb  of  religion 
to  cover  his  baseness  of  heart  and  meanness  of  life.  He  arrived  at 
the  Columbia  River  in  May,  1837.  He  entered  upon  his  professional 
duties,  and  in  a  few  months  boasted  of  the  liberties  he  had  taken 
with  most  of  the  ladies  of  the  mission  who  were  so  unfortunate  as 
to  receive  his  medical  attention.  It  was  easy  to  see  the  influence  of 
such  a  man.  His  words  were  smooth  and  brotherly,  his  acts  were 
poison  and  infamy.  He  never  had  a  friend  but  he  betrayed  or  swindled 
him  in  some  deal.  He  would  tell  a  lie  when  the  truth  would  answer 
his  purposes  better.  This  man  for  a  time  had  considerable  influence  ; 
his  calling  as  a  physician  was  necessary  and  indispensable  to  the  mission. 
Rev.  Jason  Lee  soon  found  out  the  character  of  this  wolf  in  sheep's 
clothing,  and  presented  charges  against  him  for  his  immorality,  and  ex 
pelled  him  from  the  mission.  Previous  to  leaving  the  country,  he  called 
a  public  meeting  and  made  his  statements,  and  attempted  to  mob  Mr. 
Jason  Lee  and  get  the  settlers  to  give  him  a  character,  in  both  of  which 
he  failed,  and  left  the  country  to  impose  upon  the  government  at  Wash 
ington,  as  he  had  done  upon  the  mission  and  the  early  settlers  of 
Oregon.  We  will  leave  Dr.  White  for  the  present,  and  give  him  all  the 
credit  due  to  his  bad  deeds  and  exhibitions  of  folly  in  his  capacity  as 
sub-Indian  agent. 

Mr.  Alan  son  Beers,  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  was  a  good  honest  man, 
a  devoted  Christian,  a  man  whose  moral  worth  was  above  price.  True 
as  steel,  and  honest  as  he  was  faithful,  he  was  slow  to  believe  others  to 
be  less  true  than  himself.  He  was  a  pattern  of  honesty  and  piety,  as 
well  as  industry  and  economy  ;  the  opposite  of  White  in  every  respect, 
as  was  his  wife  when  compared  to  Mrs.  White.  Though  Mrs.  Beers 
never  claimed  or  aspired  to  shine  or  display  more  than  she  really  was, 
yet  her  goodness  of  heart  was  manifested  in  her  kind  and  generous 


176  HISTORY  OF  OREGOX. 

treatment  of  all.  If  this  man  and  his  wife  did  not  leave  a  handsome 
competency  for  their  children  it  was  no  fault  of  theirs.  Others  may 
have  felt  it  their  duty  to  appropriate  the  orphan's  portion  and  receive  the 
miser's  paradise.  Mr.  Beers  came  to  the  country  full-handed,  with  a 
handsome  competency  to  commence  any  business  he  might  choose,  inde 
pendent  of  missionary  patronage.  He  was  more  faithful  in  his  depart 
ment  than  most  of  his  brethren. 

He  was  considered  by  the  early  settlers  an  honest  and  sincere  man ; 
by  the  ruling  spirits  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  a  faithful  servant  of  their 
cause. 

With  this  company  came  W.  H.  Wilson,  an  assistant  missionary,  of 
whose  early  life  we  have  but  little  knowledge.  From  his  own  state 
ments  we  learn  that  he  had  been  connected  with  a  whale  ship  as  cooper. 
On  arriving  in  Oregon  as  an  assistant  missionary,  he  was  licensed  as  a 
preacher,  and  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  White,  and, 
in  later  years,  received  the  title  of  doctor  instead  of  reverend.  The 
doctor  was  a  cheerful,  whole-souled,  good-sort  of  a  fellow,  with  a 
greater  abundance  of  interesting  and  funny  yarns  than  profound  medical 
skill,  which  alwa}'S  made  him  agreeable,  and  served  to  gain  friends  and 
popularity  in  a  community  that,  as  a  general  thing,  would  prefer  a  tinc 
ture  of  humbuggery. 

The  Misses  Ann  Maria  Pitman,  Susan  Downing,  and  Elvira  Johnson 
were  also  of  this  party.  The  first  became  the  wife  of  Rev.  Jason  Lee, 
the  second  of  Cyrus  Shepard,  the  third  of  Rev.  H.  K.  W.  Perkins, 
who  came  to  the  country  with  the  second  re-enforcement  to  the  mission, 
consisting  of  Rev.  David  Leslie,  wife,  and  three  daugters  ;  H.  K.  W. 
Perkins ;  and  Miss  Margaret  Smith,  who  afterward  became  the  wife  of 
an  Englishman  called  Dr.  Bailey.  This  gave  to  the  Methodist  Mission, 
on  the  2 1st  of  November,  1837,  Rev.  Jason  Lee  (superintendent  of 
the  mission)  and  wife,  Mr.  G.  Shepard  and  wife,  Rev.  Daniel  Lee,  Mr. 
P.  L.  Edwards,  Rev.  David  Leslie  and  wife,  Dr.  Elijah  White  and 
wife,  Rev.  H.  K.  W.  Perkins  and  wife,  Mr.  A.  Beers  and  wife,  Mr.  W. 
H.  Wilson,  and  Miss  Margaret  Smith, — nine  men  and  seven  women, — 
with  three  daughters  of  Rev.  D.  Leslie.  From  causes  already  mentioned, 
the  moral  strength  of  these  early  missionaries  was  neutralized.  The 
larger  portion  of  them  had  no  knowledge  of  the  influences  that  were 
sapping  the  foundation  of  their  Christian  effort,  and  tending  to  destroy 
the  confidence  of  such  as  were  considered  ungodly  outsiders.  Instead 
of  meeting  sin,  and  vice,  and  lust  which  could  not  be  hid,  and  condemn 
ing  and  banishing  it,  the  attempt  was  made  to  excuse  and  cover  up  a 
fault  in  a  professed  brother,  and  reprove  others  for  less  faults, —  the  mote 
and  the  beam.  The  legitimate  result  followed, — though  slow,  yet  certain. 


EXCHANGE  OF  CATTLE. 

Here  was  a  noble  field,  had  all  the  men  sent  to  occupy  it  been  of  the 
right  stamp  !  Still  they  toiled  on,  or  rather  continued  to  occupy  a  place 
in  the  country,  to  form  a  nucleus  for  a  settlement.  In  this  position  they 
are  entitled  to  much  credit.  The  roving  sailor  and  the  wild  mountain 
hunter  looked  to  this  wilderness  for  a  home.  The  shrewdness  of  these 
men  soon  detected  the  assailable  points  in  the  mission's  character,  and 
adapted  themselves  to  circumstances,  and  found  it  easy  to  profess  com 
pliance  and  receive  the  benefits  of  the  association.  There  were  few  or 
none  among  this  early  set  of  missionaries  that  displayed  much  knowl 
edge  of  human  nature.  They  were  totally  ignorant  of  savage  life, 
manners,  and  customs ;  hence  were  easily  made  the  dupes  of  all. 

In  the  winter  of  1837-8,  Gray  is  in  the  States  giving  an  account  of 
his  trip  across  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  company  with  Messrs.  Spal- 
ding  and  Whitman,  and  of  his  explorations  of  the  country ;  the  present 
and  future  prospects  of  the  missionary  efforts;  the  influence  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  of  the  missions;  the  fact  that  a  wagon 
had  been  taken  by  Dr.  Whitman  and  his  party  to  Fort  Boise,  and  that 
it  could  be  taken  to  the  Wallamet  settlement.  Said  one  man  in  the 
audience  at  Utica,  New  York :  "  How  do  you  get  through  the  timber 
on  the  route  ?"  "  My  dear  sir,  the  traveler  is  compelled  to  nse  the 
buffalo  chips  to  cook  his  food  for  a  large  part  of  the  route,  for  want  of 
wood  ;  there  is  not  twenty-five  miles  of  timber  on  the  route  from  the 
Missouri  to  the  Columbia,"  Of  course  a  description  of  the  vast  plains 
and  mountains  had  to  be  given,  and  the  manner  of  travel  and  sub 
sistence. 

The  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  sent 
with  Gray  and  wife,  Rev.  E.  Walker  and  wife,  C,  Eells  and  wife,  and 
A.  B.  Smith  and  wife,  to  re-enforce  their  mission.  There  was  with 
this  company  a  young  man  from  Cincinnati,  Ohio, — Cornelius  Rogers, — 
active  and  useful  in  every  department,  respected  and  beloved  by  all 
who  knew  him.  After  remaining  with  the  mission  a  few  years,  he 
received  an  appointment  from  the  Board,  but  he  had  made  up  his  mind 
to  become  a  settler  in  the  Wallamet,  and  made  his  arrangements  accord 
ingly.  Captain  Sutter  came  with  this  party  to  Wallawalla. 

They  reached  Whitman's  station  the  first  of  September,  1838,  bring- 
with  them  to  Fort  Hall  some  fourteen  cows.  A  majority  of  the  party 
were  made  to  believe  that  these  could  be  replaced  at  Fort  Colville  with  a 
better  stock  of  cows,  and  thus'  be  saved  the  trouble  of  driving  them  fur 
ther,  and  accordingly  made  an  even  exchange  of  the  choicest  and  best 
stock  that  could  be  found  in  Missouri  for  such  California  stock  as  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  might  have  at  Colville.  This  was  considered 
by  the  greenhorns  that  made  the  bargain  a  good  trade,  till  they  came 
12 


178  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

to  receive  the  wild,  furious,  untamable  California  stock  at  Fort  Colville, 
that  required  a  Spaniard  with  his  lasso  to  catch  and  hold,  to  get  the  milk 
for  family  use. 

Rev.  E.  "Walker  was  a  tall,  rather  spare,  stoop-shouldered,  black- 
haired,  brown-eyed,  rather  light-complexioned  man,  diffident  and  unas 
suming,  always  afraid  to  say  amen  at  the  end  of  his  prayers,  and  requir 
ing  considerable  effort  to  speak  with  confidence  or  decision  upon  any 
subject.  This  might  arise  from  habit,  or  want  of  decision  of  character, 
or  fear  of  offending.  He  had  no  positive  traits  of  mind,  yet  he  was  stu 
dious,  and  kind  as  a  friend  and  neighbor ;  faithful  as  a  Christian,  inef 
ficient  as  a  preacher.  His  efforts  among  the  Indians  were  of  the  negative 
cast.  The  Indians  respected  him  for  his  kindness,  and  feared  him  for 
his  commanding  appearance.  Not  at  all  adapted  to  fill  the  position  he 
undertook, — as  an  Indian  missionary  in  Oregon, — yet,  as  a  citizen  and 
settler,  one  of  the  best. 

Rev.  C.  Eells,  a  short,  slim,  brown-haired,  light-brown  eyed,  fair-com- 
plexioned  man,  with  a  superabundance  of  self-esteem,  great  pretensions 
to  precision  and  accurateness  of  statement  and  strictness  of  conduct; 
very  precise  in  all  his  actions,  and  about  all  his  labors  and  property ; 
with  no  soul  to  laud  and  admire  nature,  no  ambition  to  lift  his  thoughts 
beyond  the  sphere  of  his  own  ideas  of  right,  he  was  made  to  move  in 
a  small  circle ;  his  soul  would  be  lost  outside  of  it.  There  were  but  two 
instances  on  the  trip  from  Boston  to  Oregon  in  which  he  ventured  out 
side  of  himself.  The  first  was  at  Soda  Springs.  The  day  the  party 
arrived,  notwithstanding  they  had  made  a  long  day's  drive  to  reach 
that  camp,  the  four  ladies — Walker,  Eells,  Smith,  and  Gray — wished 
to  go  round  and  see  the  springs  and  drink  of  the  water,  and  look  at  the 
Steamboat  Spring,  a  place  where  water  and  gas  issue  at  intervals  of 
about  a  minute,  like  the  blowing  of  steam.  These  places  the  ladies, 
tired  as  they  were,  must  look  at  and  admire.  Rev.  Mr.  Eells  puts  up  his 
saddles,  buckles,  and  tents,  and  takes  his  Testament  and  reads  his  chap 
ter,  as  usual,  and  after  prayers  retires  to  rest.  Next  morning  all  were 
up  and  admiring  the  grand  display  of  nature  around,  drinking  of  the 
water,  and  enjoying  its  exhilarating  influence.  Camp  all  ready,  on  they 
move.  Nothing  would  satisfy  the  ladies  but  another  look  at  the  Steam 
boat.  All  mounted  their  horses  and  rode  down  to  it.  Eells  mounts  his 
horse  as  usual,  and  comes  along  clown  where  all  stood  watching  and 
admiring  the  phenomenon,  dismounts  from  his  horse,  and  in  utter  aston 
ishment  exclaims:  "  Well,  this  is  really  worth  coming  to  see!"  The 
other  instance  in  which  he  lost  himself  was  in  admiring  the  grandeur 
of  the  great  fall  on  Snake  River.  He  had  no  poetry  or  romance  in  his 
soul,  yet  by  dint  of  perseverance  he  was  a  good  artificial  singer.  He 


THE  MISSIONARIES.  179 

lacked  all  the  qualities  requisite  for  a  successful  Indian  missionary  and 
a  preacher  of  the  gospel  in  a  new  country.  As  citizens  and  neighbors, 
Mr.  Eells  and  his  family  were  highly  respected ;  as  a  teacher,  he  was 
unreasonably  strict. 

Rev.  A.  B.  Smith,  a  man  whose  prejudices  were  so  strong  that  he  could 
not  be  reasonable  with  himself.  He  attempted  to  make  himself  useful 
as  a  missionary,  but  failed  for  want  of  Christian  forbearance  and  con 
fidence  in  his  associates.  As  to  literary  ability,  he  was  superior  to 
his  associates,  and  probably  excited  their  jealousy;  so  much  so,  that  his 
connection  in  the  mission  became  unpleasant,  and  he  found  an  excuse 
to  leave  the  country  in  1841 ;  not,  however,  till  he  and  Mr.  Rogers  had, 
with  the  assistance  of  the  Lawyer,  completed  a  vocabulary  and  a 
grammar  of  the  Nez  Perce  language,  which  was  the  cause  of  Ellis's 
jealousy  of  the  Lawyer  and  Mr.  Smith,  and  also  of  an  extra  effort 
through  the  Jesuits  and  the  company  to  get  rid  of  him. 


CHAPTER   XXIY. 

Arrival  of  Jesuit  missionaries. — Toupin's  statement  about  Rev.  A.  B.  Smith. — Death  of 
Mrs.  Jason  Lee. — First  express. — Jesuits  at  work. — The  first  printing-press. — The 
Catholic  tree. 

A  SHORT  time  after  the  arrival  of  the  re-enforcement  to  the  mission 
of  the  American  Board,  Rev.  F.  N".  Blanchet  and  Rev.  Dcmerse  arrived 
at  Wallawalla  by  the  annual  overland  boats  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  While  at  Wallawalla,  they  induced  a  Cayuse,  Young 
Chief,  to  have  one  of  his  children  baptized,  Mr.  Pambrun  being  sponsor, 
or  godfather.  This  was  the  first  Indian  child  ever  baptized  in  the 
country.  It  caused  considerable  excitement  among  the  Indians,  as  also 
a  discussion  as  to  who  was  teaching  the  true  religion.  The  interpre 
ters  of  Wallawalla  being  of  the*  Catholic  faith,  made  free  to  inform 
the  Indians  that  theirs  was  the  true  religion.  The  Indians  soon  came  to 
the  station  of  Dr.  Whitman  and  informed  him  of  what  had  been  done, 
and  that  they  had  been  told  by  the  priest  that  his  was  the  true  re 
ligion  ;  that  what  he  and  Mr.  Spalding  had  been  teaching  them  for 
two  years  past  was  all  false,  and  that  it  was  not  right  for  the  Indians 
to  listen  to  the  Doctor  and  Mr.  Spalding.  The  instructions  given,  and 
the  baptizing  of  the  Indian  child,  were,  unquestionably,  designed  to 
create  a  diversion  in  the  minds  of  the  Indians,  and  ultimately  bring 
about  the  abandonment  or  destruction  of  the  mission.  I  have  never 
been  able  to  learn,  from  any  source,  that  any  other  Indian  child  was 
baptized  by  these  priests  on  that  trip  from  Canada  to  Vancouver. 
In  fact,  I  see  from  their  published  works  that  they  claim  this  as  their 
first  station  or  place  of  instruction. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Blanchet  was  a  black-haired,  brown-eyed,  smooth 
faced,  medium-sized  Frenchman. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Demerse  had  dark-brown  hair,  full,  round  eye,  fair 
complexion,  rather  full  habit,  something  of  the  bull-neck,  inclining  to 
corpulency.  He  was  fond  of  good  cheer  and  good  living  ;  of  the  Jesuit 
order  of  the  Roman  church ;  he  seemed  to  have  no  scruples  of  con 
science  ;  so  long  as  he  could  secure  subjects  for  "  inotlier  church"  it 
mattered  not  as  to  intelligence  or  character. 

During  the  year  1838,  three  clergymen  arrived  across  the  Rocky 
Mountains :  Revs.  Walker,  Eells,  and  Smith,  with  their  wives,  and 


DUPLICITY  OF  THE  COMPANY. 

Mr.  Cornelius  Rogers.  Mr.  Gray,  with  his  wife,  had  also  returned. 
These  new  arrivals  gave  an  addition  of  nine  to  the  mission  of  the 
American  Board,  making  their  number  thirteen  in  all.  The  Methodist 
Mission  had  sixteen,  and  the  Roman  Catholic,  two.  The  total  number 
of  missionaries  in  the  country,  in  December,  1838,  was  thirty-one,  twenty- 
nine  of  the  Protestant  religion  from  the  United  States,  and  two  of  the 
Roman  Jesuitical  order.  The  latter  were  located  at  Vancouver  as  their 
head-quarters.  The  Methodists  were  in  the  Wallamet  Valley,  with  one 
out-station  at  the  Dalles,  Wascopum.  The  American  Board  had  three 
stations,  one  at  Wailatpu,  one  at  Lapwai,  and  one  at  Cimakain,  near 
Spokan. 

This  array  of  missionary  strength  looked  like  a  strong  effort  on  the 
part  of  the  Christian  world  to  convert  the  tribes  upon  our  western  coast. 
Had  all  the  men  been  chosen  with  proper  care,  and  all  acted  with  a  sin 
gle  eye  to  the  cause  which  they  professed  to  espouse,  each  in  his  distinct 
department ;  had  they  closed  their  ears  to  the  suggestions  of  hypocriti 
cal  fur  traders,  and  met  their  vices  with  a  spotless  life  and  an  earnest 
determination  to  maintain  their  integrity  as  representatives  of  religion 
and  a  Christian  people,  the  fruits  of  their  labor  would,  undoubtedly, 
have  been  far  greater.  As  the  matter  now  stands,  they  can  claim  the 
influence  they  reluctantly  yielded  to  the  provisional  government  of 
the  early  settlers  of  the  country. 

It  will  be  seen  at  once  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  acting 
a  double  part  with  all  the  American  missionary  efforts  in  the  country. 
On  the  arrival  of  Rev.  J.  Lee  and  party  they  sent  for  Mr.  Beaver,  an 
Episcopal  clergyman.  On  the  arrival  of  Dr.  Whitman  and  party  they 
sent  for  Blanchet  and  Demerse,  and  established  their  head-quarters 
at  Vancouver.  Blanchet  took  charge  of  the  field  occupied  by  the 
Methodists,  and  Demerse  of  that  occupied  by  the  American  Board. 
A  combination  of  Hudson's  Bay  Company  Indian  traders,  Roman 
priests,  Protestant  missionaries,  and  American  settlers,  each  having  a 
distinct  object  in  view.  Unfortunately  for  the  American  missionaries 
and  settlers,  there  was  no  one  bold  enough  to  attempt  to  act  against 
these  combinations.  Cornelius  Rogers  and  Robert  Shortess  were  the 
first  to  show  signs  of  rebellion  against  the  policy  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  ;  Spalding,  Whitman,  and  Smith  chafed  under  the  Jesuits' 
proceedings  in  the  interior. 

"About  the  year  1839,  in  the  fall,  Mr.  Smith,  belonging  to  the  same 
society  as  Dr.  Whitman  and  Mr.  Spalding,  asked  permission  of  Ellis  to 
build  upon  his  lands  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  the  Indians  as  the 
other  missionaries  were  doing,  a"nd  of  keeping  a  school.  Ellis  allowed 
him  to  build,  but  forbade  him  to  cultivate  the  land,  and  warned  him 


182  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

that  if  he  did  the  piece  of  ground  which  he  would  till  should  serve  to 
bury  him  in.  In  the  following  spring,  however,  Mr.  Smith  prepared 
his  plow  to  till  the  ground  ;  and  Ellis,  seeing  him  ready  to  begin,  went 
to  him  and  said  to  him :  '  Do  you  not  recollect  what  I  told  you  ?  I 
do  not  wish  you  to  cultivate  the  land.'  Mr.  Smith,  however,  persisted 
in  his  determination;  but,  as  he  was  beginning  to  plow,  the  Indians 
took  hold  of  him  and  said  to  him:  'Do  you  not  know  what  has  been 
told  you,  that  you  would  be  digging  a  hole  in  which  you  should  be 
buried  ?'  Mr.  Smith  then  did  not  persist  any  longer,  but  said  to  them  : 
4  Let  me  go,  I  will  leave  the  place ;'  and  he  started  off  immediately. 
This  circumstance  had  been  related  to  me  by  the  Indians,  and  soon  after 
I  saw  Mr.  Smith  myself  at  Fort  Wallawalla  ;  he  was  on  his  way  down 
to  Fort  Vancouver,  where  he  embarked  for  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
whence  he  did  not  come  back  any  more."  This  is  the  statement  of  old 
John  Toupin,  Pambrun's  Roman  Catholic  interpreter,  by  Brouillet. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  Rev.  Jason  Lee  started  with  P.  L. 
Edwards  and  F.  Y.  Euing,  across  the  Rocky  Mountains,  for  the  United 
States,  in  May,  1838.  He  met  Gray,  and  party,  at  the  American  ren 
dezvous  that  year,  on  the  north  fork  of  the  Yellowstone  River.  Gray 
and  party,  on  arriving  at  Fort  Hall,  received  the  news  of  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Jason  Lee,  sent  by  Spalding  and  Whitman,  and  not  by  Dr. 
McLaughlin,  as  stated  by  Rev.  G.  Hines.  Dr.  McLaughlin  may  have 
allowed  a  messenger  to  go  as  far  as  Whitman's  station,  but  made  no 
arrangements  for  going  any  further.  Spalding's  Indian  messenger 
delivered  the  packages  to  Gray,  at  Fort  Hall.  Gray  employed  Rich 
ardson  (a  young  man  he  had  engaged  as  guide  and  hunter  for  the 
party,  on  starting  from  Westport,  Missouri),  to  take  these  letters,  and 
deliver  them  to  Lee,  for  which  he  was  to  receive  $150. 

This  express  was  carried  from  the  Wallamet  Valley  to  Westport,  Mis 
souri,  in  sixty  days,  forming  the  first  data  for  the  overland  express  and 
mail  routes.  The  sixty  days  included  two  days'  detention  at  Wailatpu, 
and  two  at  Fort  Hall.  It  seems  that  Richardson,  the  messenger  from 
Fort  Hall,  met  Lee,  and  delivered  his  packages  to  him  at  the  Shawnee 
mission,  and  received  from  Lee  the  price  agreed  upon.  I  am  thus  par 
ticular  in  these  little  facts,  that  those  who  claim  so  much  credit  for 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  patronage  may  understand  what  influences 
were  in  those  early  times  bringing  about  results  for  which  a  combination 
of  British  fur  traders  now  claim  pay,  and  are  awarded  8650,000,  in  gold 
coin. 

I  have  said  that  in  December,  1838,  there  were  twenty-nine  persons 
connected  with  the  Protestant  missions  in  the  country.  This  is  not 
strictly  true.  Rev.  Jason  Lee  and  Mr.  P.  L.  Edwards  had  gone  to  the 


HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY  BECOME  CATECIIISTS.  183 

States ;  Mr.  C.  Shepard  and  Mrs.  J.  Lee  had  gone  to  their  reward.  The 
devil  had  entered  the  field  with  his  emissaries,  and  was  exceedingly 
busy  sowing  tares  among  the  wheat,  through  fear  that  the  natives 
would  be  benefited,  and  the  country  become  civilized.  The  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  and  its  servants,  Indians  and  all,  are  about  to  become 
converted  to  Christianity.  Strange  as  this  statement  may  appear,  it  is 
literally  true.  The  clerks,  traders,  and  servants  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  became  cateehists,  to  teach  the  Indians  to  repeat  the  cate 
chism  presented  to  them  by  their  Reverences  Blanchet  and  Demerge. 
Dr.  McLaughlin  and  Esquire  Douglas  were  both  zealous  supporters  of 
the  Christian  reformation  in  progress  in  the  country.  During  the  year 
1839,  "Rev.  Mr.  Demerse  (Jesuit  priest)  spent  three  weeks  at  Walla- 
walla,  in  teaching  the  Indians  and  baptizing  their  children^  employing 
Mr.  P.  C.  Pambrun  as  his  catechist,  and  godfather  to  the  native  chil 
dren.  (See  page  87  of  Rev.  J.  B.  A.  Brouillet's  "  Protestantism  in 
Oregon.")  While  the  Protestant  missions  were  struggling  to  improve 
the  condition  of  the  Indians,  to  teach  them  to  cultivate  their  lands  and 
become  permanent  settlers  in  their  own  country,  and  to  give  the'Indian 
children  a  knowledge  of  books,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and 
Jesuit  priests  were  equally  busy  in  attempting  to  persuade  them  that 
the  instructions  given  by  these  American  or  Boston  missionaries  were 
only  to  cover  up  a  secret  design  they  had  to  take  their  lands  and 
property  from  them,  and  eventually  to  occupy  the  country  themselves. 
To  a  certain  extent 'Dr.  Whitman's  statement  to  them  would  confirm 
this  idea.  As  soon  as  these  priests  arrived  and  commenced  their 
instructions,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  (for  it 
will  be  remembered  that  their  head-quarters  were  at  Vancouver),  their 
entire  transportation  was  provided  or  furnished  by  the  company. 
Doubtless  it  is  to  the  assistance  rendered  these  Roman  missions  to 
occupy  the  country,  that  the  counsel  for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
Mr.  Charles  D.  Day,  alludes,  in  speaking  of  the  "  substantial  benefits  to 
the  people  and  government  of  the  United  States"  Dr.  Whitman  repeat 
edly  told  the  Indians  about  his  station  that  he  did  not  come  among 
them  to  buy  their  land,  but  he  came  to  teach  them  how  to  cultivate  and 
live  from  what  they  produced  from  their  own  lands,  and  at  some  future 
time,  if  the  American  government  wished  any  of  their  country,  then 
the  President  would  send  men  to  buy  and  pay  them  for  it.  The 
difficulty  about  land  had  no  existence  in  the  minds  or  thoughts  of  the 
Indians  till  the  fall  of  1839,  and  after  the  renewal  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company's  license  for  twenty-one  years.  From  that  time  forward  a 
marked  change  was  manifest  in  the  feelings  of  most  of  the  gentlemen 
of  the  company. 


134  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

The  first  printing-press  in  Oregon  was  received  as  a  donation  from 
the  mission  of  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  in  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  to  the  mission  of  the  Board  in  Oregon.  It  reached  its  desti 
nation  at  Lapwai,  and  was  put  in  operation  by  Mr.  E.  O.  Hall,  of  the 
Sandwich  Islands  Mission,  and  commenced  printing  books  in  the  Nez 
Perce  language.  Both  Mr.  Rogers  and  Mr.  Spalding  soon  learned  to  set 
type,  and  print  the  small  books  required  for  the  Indian  schools  that  had 
been  kept  at  the  stations.  The  books  and  instructions  were  furnished 
gratuitously  to  all  the  Indians  that  wished  to  receive  them.  This  caused 
special  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  priests  to  counteract  the  influence  of 
the  books  printed  by  Spalding.  To  illustrate  their  ideas,  and  show  the 
evil  of  heretical  books  and  teachings,  they  had  a  representation  of  a  large 
tree,  with  a  cross  on  top,  representing  all  religious  sects  as  going  up  the 
tree,  and  out  upon  the  different  branches,  and  falling  from  the  end  of 
the  branch  into  a  fire  under  the  tree,  with  a  priest  by  the  side  of  the 
fire  throwing  the  heretical  books  into  it.  This  was  an  interesting  pic 
ture,  and  caused  much  discussion  and  violent  denunciations  among  the 
Indians.  Mr.  Spalding,  to  counteract  the  influences  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  tree  among  the  Indians,  had  Mrs.  Spalding  paint  a  number  of 
sheets  of  cap-paper,  commencing  with  Adam  and  Eve  in  the  garden  of 
Eden,  representing  the  shrubbery,  and  all  kinds  of  fruits,  and  the  ser 
pent,  and  the  angel  (after  the  fall)  as  guarding  the  garden  ;  giving  the 
pictures  of  most  of  the  prominent  patriarchs  ;  Noah  and  the  ark,  and 
the  prophets,  down  to  Christ  and  the  twelve  apostles  ;  showing  the  cru 
cifixion  of  Christ  by  the  Roman  soldiers,  and  on  down  to  the  time  when 
they  adopted  the  cross  as  a  form  of  worship,  and  the  priests  as  kneeling 
to  images.  Spalding's  pictures  were  in  such  form,  and  contained  s-o 
much  Bible  history  and  information,  that  his  Indian  preachers,  to  whom 
he  gave  them,  could  attract  larger  crowds  of  Indians,  to  listen  to  the 
instructions  given  by  Spalding,  than  those  who  had  the  Catholic  tree.. 
This  exasperated,  or  stirred  up,  as  the  Indians  expressed  it,  all  their 
bad  feelings  toward  each  other,  and  caused  quarrels  between  those  that 
were  friends  before, — a  repetition  of  sectarian  quarrels  in  all  ages, 
and  among  every  people  not  understanding  the  true  principles  of  a 
genuine  Christianity. 

The  main  object  of  the  priests  was  to  destroy  all  interest  in 
books,  and  thereby  check  the  growing  influence  of  the  American 
missionaries  in  the  country,  substituting  pictures  and  beads  in  place 
of  knowledge. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Independent  missionaries  arrive. — Their  troubles. — Conversion  of  Indians  at  the  Dalles. 
— Their  motives. — Emigrants  of  1839. — Blubber-Mouth  Smith. — Re-enforcement  of 
the  Methodist  Mission  in  1840. — Father  De  Srnet. — Rev.  Harvey  Clark  and  asso 
ciates. — Ewing  Young. — Xames  of  missionaries  and  settlers. 

Ix  the  fall  of  1839,  the  Rev.  J.  S.  Griffin  and  wife  arrived  at  Dr. 
Whitman's  station.  Mr.  Griffin  had  undertaken  an  independent  mission, 
in  company  with  a  Mr.- Hunger  and  wife.  They  had  received  an  outfit 
from  some  warm-hearted  Christians  of  the  Litchfield  North  Associa 
tion,  of  Connecticut.  Mr.  Griffin  reached  St.  Louis  a  single  man,  fell  in 
love  and  married  on  sight,  I  do  not  know  whether  it  was  first  or 
second.  At  all  events,  Rev.  Mr.  Griffin  and  Mr.  Munger  and  their 
wives  consented  to  travel  together  till  they  reached  Fort  Hall,  at 
which  place  Mr.  Griffin,  being  the  getter-up  of  the  mission  and  claim 
ing  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  took  it  upon  himself  to  leave  Mr.  Munger 
and  his  wife  at  Fort  Hall,  to  take  care  of  themselves  as  best  they  could. 
Frank  Ermatinger,  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  at  once  furnished 
Mr.  Munger  and  his  wife  the  means  of  transportation,  and  brought 
them  to  Dr.  Whitman's  station,  where  he  knew  Mr.  Munger  could  find 
a  place  for  himself  and  wife.  This  transaction  of  Mr.  Griffin  injured 
his  usefulness  as  a  minister,  and  left  him  in  the  country  but  little  re 
spected  by  any  who  knew  of  his  conduct  to  a  fellow-traveler  and  an 
intelligent  Christian  woman.  The  fact  that  Mr.  Munger  afterward  be 
came  deranged,  or  even  that  he  was  partially  deranged  at  Fort  Hall, 
or  before  they  reached  that  place,  is  no  excuse  for  his  treating  a  man 
in  that  condition  and  his  wife  as  he  did.  Mr.  Griffin  claims  that  Mr. 
Ermatinger  stole  three  of  his  horses,  or  had  them  hid,  when  at  Fort 
Hall,  to  get  Mr.  Munger  and  wife  to  travel  with  him,  and,  by  so  doing, 
give  the  impression  that  he  had  abandoned  them.  From  a  careful  re 
view  of  Mr.  Griffin's  lengthy  defense  in  this  case,  we  can  not  conceive 
that  any  further  change  or  correction  is  required,  as  the  facts  stated 
are  by  him  admitted.  From  Mr.  Griffin's  statement  we  are  satisfied 
that  improper  and  undue  influences  were  used  to  break  up  and  defeat 
his  Indian  missionary  plans  and  settlement  by  Mr.  Ermatinger  and  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  also  to  destroy  his  clerical  influence  in 
the  country.  Unfortunately,  Mr.  Griffin  gave  too  much  cause  for  his 
enemies  to  do  as  they  did. 


186  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

In  the  winter  of  1839,  Mr.  Griffin  made  an  attempt  to  pass  the  Sal 
mon  River  Mountains  to  Payette  River,  to  establish  a  mission  among 
the  Snake  Indians,  in  which  he  failed,  and  found  his  way  into  the 
Wallarnet  as  a  settler,  where  he  still  remains. 

There  were  with  Mr.  Griffin's  party  some  four  men,  one  by  the  name 
of  Ben  Wright,  who  had  been  a  Methodist  preacher  in  the  States,  but 
whose  religion  failed  him  on  his  way  over  the  mountains.  He  reached 
the  Dalles,  where  he  renewed  his  religion  under  Rev.  Mr.  Perkins  and 
D.  Lee. 

While  at  the  Dalles,  the  three  clergymen  succeeded  in  converting,  as 
they  supposed,  a  large  number  of  the  Indians.  While  this  Indian  re 
vival  was  in  progress  the  writer  had  occasion  to  visit  Vancouver.  On 
Ids  way,  he  called  on  the  missionaries  at  the  Dalles,  and,  in  speaking  of 
the  revival  among  the  Indians,  wre  remarked  that,  in  our  opinion,  most 
of  the  religious  professions  of  the  natives  were  from  selfish  motives. 
Mr.  Perkins  thought  not ;  he  named  one  Indian  that,  he  felt  certain, 
was  really  converted,  if  there  was  a  true  conversion.  In  a  short  time 
Daniel  Lee,  his  associate,  came  in,  and  remarked :  "  What  kind  of  a 

proposition  do  you  think (naming  Mr.  Perkins'  truly  converted 

Indian)  has  made  to  me?"  Perkins  replied  :  "  Perhaps  lie  will  perform 
the  work  we  wished  him  to  do."  "  No,"  says  Lee  ;  "he  says  he  will  pray 
a  whole  year  if  I  will  give  him  a  skirt  and  a  capote"  This  fact  shows 
that  the  natives  who  were  supposed  to  be  converted  to  Christianity 
were  making  these  professions  to  gain  presents  from  the  missionaries. 
We  have  witnessed  similar  professions  among  the  Nex  Perce  and  Cay- 
use  Indians.  The  giving  of  a  few  presents  of  any  description  to  them 
induces  them  to  make  professions  corresponding  to  the  wish  of  the 
donor. 

With  Messrs.  Griffin,  Munger,  and  Wright,  came  Messrs.  Lawson, 
Reiser,  and  Geiger,  late  in  the  fall  of  1839 ;  also  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Farnam,  who  seemed  to  be  an  explorer  or  tourist.  I  met  him  at  Van 
couver,  where  he  was  receiving  the  hospitality  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  and  collecting  material  for  a  journal,  or  history  of  Oregon. 
It  is  said  of  him  that,  on  starting  from  the  States,  he  succeeded  in  get 
ting  himself  appointed  captain  of  a  company  consisting  of  some  fourteen 
men.  He  soon  attempted  to  exercise  absolute  control  of  the  company, 
which  caused  a  division.  The  party  voted  to  suspend  his  official  func 
tions,  and  finally  suspended  him  and  expelled  him  from  the  train.  On 
returning  to  the  States  he  published  a  book,  which,  as  was  to  be 
expected,  was  favorable  to  himself  and  friends  (if  he  had  any),  and 
severe  on  his  opposers  or  enemies.  The  professed  object  of  the  party 
was  to  form  a  settlement  in  Oregon.  In  consequence  of  the  course 


ROBERT  SHORTESS.  1ST 

pursued  by  Farnam,  it  all  broke  up.  A  man  called  Blubber-Mouth 
Smith,  Blair,  a  millwright,  and  Robert  Shortens  were  of  the  party. 
These  all  found  their  way  into  Oregon,  while  the  balance  of  the  party 
went  south  and  wintered  in  the  mountains.  Mr.  Farnam  was  furnished 
a  free  passnge  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
for  which  his  traveling  companions  and  those  best  acquainted  with 
him  have  given  the  company  credit,  as  one  good  act. 

Sydney  Smith — called  "Blubber-Mouth,"  from  the  fact  that  he  was  a 
great  talker  and  fond  of  telling  big  yarns,  which  he,  no  doubt,  had  re 
peated  so  often  that  he  believed  them  to  be  true,  and  would  appear 
somewhat  offended  if  his  statements  were  not  believed  by  others — had 
a  tolerably  fair  education,  and  appeared  to  understand  the  lottery  busi 
ness,  as  conducted  in  some  of  the  States.  He  was  a  man  who  had  read 
considerable  in  his  early  days,  and  had  he  been  less  boisterous  and  per 
sistent  in  statements  that  appeared  improbable  to  others,  would  have 
been  far  more  reliable  and  useful.  As  it  was,  in  those  early  times,  his 
knowledge  and  free-speaking  became  quite  useful,  when  combined  with 
the  hearty  action  he  gave  to  the  objects  in  contemplation.  He  was 
ambitious  and  extremely  selfish,  and,  when  opposed  in  his  plans,  quite 
unreasonable. 

Robert  Shortess  possessed  a  combination  of  qualities  such  as  should 
have  formed  one  of  the  best  and  noblest  of  men  ;  with  a  good  memory, 
extensive  reading,  inflexible  purpose,  strong  hate,  affectionate  and  kind, 
skeptical  and  religious,  honest  and  liberal  to  a  fault,  above  medium 
height,  light-brown  hair,  blue  eyes,  and  thin  and  spare  features.  His 
whole  life  is  a  mystery,  his  combinations  a  riddle.  He  early  entered 
with  heart  and  soul  into  the  situation  and  condition  of  the  settlements, 
and  stood  for  their  rights  in  opposition  to  all  the  combined  influences 
in  the  country.  As  a  politician  he  acts  on  the  principle  of  right,  with 
out  any  regard  to  expediency.  As  a  religious  man  he  has  no  faith  ;  as 
a  skeptic  he  is  severe  on  all  alike.  The  country  owes  much  to  him  for 
his  labor  and  influence  in  combating  slavery  and  shaping  the  organic 
policy  of  the  settlements. 

At  the  close  of  1839,  there  were  ten  Protestant  ministers  and  two 
Roman  priests,  twro  physicians,  six  laymen,  and  thirteen  American 
women  in  the  country — twenty-nine  in  all — connected  witli  the  Protest 
ant  missions,  or  under  their  immediate  control,  and  twenty  settlers, 
besides  about  ten  men  that  were  under  the  control  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  yet  having  strong  American  feelings.  There  were  also  ten 
American  children,  five  of  them  born  in  the  country.  Mrs.  Whitman 
gave  birth  to  the  first  white  child,  a  daughter,  born  on  this  coast,  who 
was  drowned  in  the  Wallawalla  River  at  about  two  years  of  age; 


188  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Mrs.  Spalding  the  second,  a  daughter,  still  living ;  Mrs.  Elkanah  Walker 
the  first  boy,  and  Mrs.  W.  H.  Gray,  the  second.  These  boys  are  both 
making  good  names  for  themselves.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  every  act 
and  effort  of  their  lives  will  be  alike  honorable  to  their  parents,  them 
selves,  and  their  native  country.  As  to  the  first  daughter  of  Oregon, 
I  regret  to  say,  she  disobeyed  the  wish  of  her  parents  and  friends,  and 
married  a  man  whose  early  education  was  neglected,  but  who  has  natural 
ability  and  energy  to  rise  above  his  present  position,  obtain  an  edu 
cation,  and  become  an  ornament  to  his  adopted  country,  and  an  honor 
to  Oregon's  eldest  daughter. 

On  the  first  of  June  of  this  year,  the  Lausanne,  Captain  Spalding, 
arrived  in  the  Columbia  River  with  a  re-enforcement  for  the  Methodist 
Mission  of  eight  clergymen,  five  laymen,  and  one  physician,  all  with 
wives,  five  single  ladies,  and  fifteen  children,  belonging  to  the  different 
families,  with  a  full  supply  of  goods,  such  as  were  needed  and  appropri 
ate  for  the  settlement,  the  various  missions,  and  for  Indian  trade.  Sep 
tember  following,  Rev.  Harvey  Clark  and  wife,  A.  T.  Smith  and  wife, 
and  P.  B.  Littlejohn  and  wife,  arrived  across  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
With  this  company  came  eleven  mountain  men,  eight  of  them  with 
native  wives.  We  now  had  twenty-one  Protestant  ministers,  three 
Roman  priests,  fifteen  lay  members  of  the  Protestant  Church,  thirty- 
four  white  women,  thirty-five  American  settlers,  and  thirty-two  white 
children — one  hundred  and  eight  persons  immediately  under  control  of 
the  missions.  Thirty-six  settlers,  twenty-five  of  them  with  native  wives. 
These  thirty-six  settlers  are  counted  as  outside  the  missions  and  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company.  There  were  about  fifty  Canadian-French  under 
the  control  of  the  company. 

Thus  we  can  begin  to  see  the  development  of  the  three  influences  or 
parties.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  in  their  religious  element 
three  Romish  priests,  assisted  actively  by  all  the  Canadian-French 
Catholics  and  such  clerks  as  Pambrun,  Guinea,  Grant,  and  McBean, 
with  such  interpreters  as  old  Toupin,  of  whom  Mr.  Parker,  in  his  jour 
nal,  says:  "The  interpreter  I  had  been  expecting  did  not  arrive,  and 
consequently  much  of  what  I  wished  to  say  to  these  hundreds  of  In 
dians  could  not  be  communicated  for  want  of  a  medium."  On  the  pre 
ceding  page,  Mr.  Parker  remarks :  "  But  as  I  have  little  prospect  of 
the  arrival  of  my  interpreter,  I  shall  probably  be  left  to  commiserate 
their  anxiety,  while  it  will  be  out  of  my  power  to  do  them  good." 

Old  John  Toupin,  under  the  sanctity  of  a  Roman  Catholic  oath,  says, 
at  St.  Louis,  of  Wallamet,  on  September  24,  1848:  "I  have  been  seven 
teen  years  employed  as  interpreter  at  Fort  Wallawalla.  I  was  there 
when  Mr.  Parker,  in  1835,  came  to  select  places  for  Presbyterian  mis- 


OLD   TOUPIN'S   STATEMENT.  189 

sions  among  the  Cayuses  and  ISTez  Perces,  and  to  ask  lands  for  those 
missions.  He  employed  me  as  interpreter  in  his  negotiations  with  the" 
Indians  on  that  occasion."  Mr.  Parker  has  just  said  "  the  interpreter  I 
had  been  expecting  did  not  arrive"  Toupin  says  :  "  Mr.  Pambrun,  the 
gentleman  then  in  charge  of  the  fort,  accompanied  me  to  the  Cayuses 
and  Nez  Perces.  Mr.  Parker,  in  company  with  Mr.  Pambrun,  an  Ameri 
can,  and  myself,  went  first  to  the  Cayuses,  upon  the  lands  called  Wai- 
latpu,  that  belonged  to  three  chiefs, — Splitted  Lip,  or  Yomtip ;  Red 
Cloak,  or  Waptachtakamal ;  and  Feather  Cap,  or  Tilokaikt."  Having 
met  them  at  that  place,  he  told  them  that  he  was  coming  to  select  a  place 
to  build  a  preaching-house,  to  teach  them  how  to  live,  and  to  teach 
school  to  their  children,  and  that  he  would  not  come  himself  to  estab 
lish  the  mission,  but  a  doctor,  or  medicine  man,  would  come  in  his  place ; 
that  the  doctor  would  be  the  chief  of  the  mission,  and  would  come  in 
the  following  spring.  "  I  came  to  select  a  place  for  a  mission,"  said  he, 
"  but  I  do  not  intend  to  take  your  lands  for  nothing.  After  the  doctor 
is  come,  there  will  come  every  year  a  big  ship  loaded  with  goods  to  be 
divided  among  the  Indians.  These  goods  will  not  be  sold,  but  given  to 
you.  The  mission  will  bring  you  plows  and  hoes  to  learn  you  how  to 
cultivate  the  land,  and  they  will  not  sell,  but  give  them  to  yon."  From 
the  Cayuses  Mr.  Parker  went  to  the  Nez  Perces,  and  there  he  made  the 
same  promises  to  the  Indians  as  at  Wailatpu.  "  Next  spring  there  will 
come  a  missionary  to  establish  himself  here  and  take  a  piece  of  land ; 
but  he  ic ill  not  take  it  for  nothing,  you  shall  be  paid  every  year  •  this 
?'.« the  American  fashion."  This  statement  is  made  by  authority  of  Rev. 
•7.  B.  A.  Brouillet,  vicar-general  of  Wallawalla. 

Rev.  Mr.  Parker,  as  before  remarked,  and  as  his  journal  shows,  soon 
understood  all  the  maneuverings  of  this  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  He 
had  no  confidence  in  their  friendship  or  their  interpreters.  As  a  matter 
of  policy  they  could  do  no  less  than  treat  him  kindly,  or,  more  properly, 
civilly,  and  allow  him  to  leave  the  country,  as  he  did.  But  mark  the 
strictness  and  care  of  the  company  to  impress  the  necessity  of  com 
pliance  with  their  arrangements  upon  the  minds  of  those  that  followed 
Mr.  Parker.  Keep  the  massacre  to  which  Vicar-General  Brouillet  refers 
before  your  mind.  Life  and  blood  and  treasure  have  been  expended. 
The  fair  land  we  inhabit  was  not  secured  without  a  struggle.  The  early 
Protestant  missions  were  not  defeated  and  broken  up  without  outside 
influences.  The  Indians  were  not  abandoned  till  they  had  dipped  their 
hands  in  the  blood  of  their  best  and  truest  friend,  and  "become  seven 
fold  more  the  children  of  the  devil  than  they  were  in  their  native  state," 
by  the  teachings  they  had  received  from  malicious  and  interested  par 
ties  to  make  them  so. 


190  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Father  P.  J.  De  Smet,  from  Brouillet's  statements,  was  among  the 
Flatheads  and  at  Wallawalla  in  1840.  This  priest  boasted  of  his  be 
longing  to  the  Jesuit  order  of  the  Romish  Church.  He  usually  wore  a 
black  frock-coat,  was  of  full  habit,  arrogant  and  bigoted  in  his  opinions, 
and  spoke  with  considerable  sarcasm  and  contempt  of  all  Americans, 
and  especially  of  the  missionaries,  as  an  ignorant  set  of  men  to  repre 
sent  the  American  churches.  He  would  be  considered,  in  his  church,  a 
zealous  and  faithful  priest  of  the  order  pf  Jesus.  His  religious  instruc 
tions  to  the  Indians  were  simple  and  easy  to  be  understood :  "  Count 
your  beads,  hate  or  kill  the  Suapies  (Americans),  and  kiss  the  cross." 

Rev.  Harvey  Clark  was  a  man  whose  religion  was  practical,  whose 
labors  were  without  ceasing,  of  slender  frame,  black  hair,  deep,  mellow 
voice,  kind  and  obliging  to  all.  He  organized  the  first  Congregational 
Church  in  Tualatin  Plains,  and  one  in  Oregon  City,  and  was  the  getter- 
up  of  the  Pacific  University  at  Forest  Grove ;  a  warm  friend  to  general 
education  and  all  objects  calculated  to  do  good  to  any  and  all  of  his 
fellow-creatures.  But  few  who  knew  him  did  not  respect  and  esteem 
him  for  his  sincere  piety  and  Christian  conduct.  He  came  to  the  coun 
try  as  a  missionary  sent  out  by  some  of  the  northwestern  churches  in 
the  United  States,  without  any  definite  organization  further  than  suffi 
cient  to  furnish  the  means  for  outfit  for  himself  and  associates, — Smith 
and  Littlejohn  and  their  wives, — trusting  Providence  and  their  own 
strong  arms  and  willing  hearts  to  labor  and  do  all  they  could  for  a  sub 
sistence.  Mr.  Clark  was  perhaps  the  best  man  that  could  have  been 
sent  with  the  early  settlers.  Pie  early  gained  their  confidence  and 
esteem,  and  was  always  a  welcome  visitor  among  them.  He  had  not 
that  stern  commanding  manner  which  is  usual  to  egotists  of  the  clerical 
order,  but  was  of  the  mild,  persuasive  kind,  that  wins  the  rough  heart 
and  calms  the  stormy  passions.  The  country  is  blessed  by  his  having 
lived  in  it. 

A.  T.  Smith,  the  associate  of  Rev.  H.  Clark,  was  an  honest  and  sub 
stantial  farmer,  a  sincere  and  devout  Christian,  a  man  not  forward 
in  forming  society,  yet  firm  and  s-table  in  his  convictions  of  right ; 
liberal  and  generous  to  all  objects  of  real  worth;  not  easily  excited,  or 
ambitious  of  political  preferment.  His  wife  seemed,  in  all  her  life  and 
actions,  to  be  a  suitable  helpmeet  for  him.  They  came  early  to  this 
country,  and  have  ever  been  substantial  and  useful  citizens,  and  sup 
porters  of  morality  and  religion.  They  were  among  the  earliest  set 
tlers  at  Forest  Grove,  and  the  first  members  of  Rev.  II.  Clark's  church. 
P.  B.  Littlejohn  was  the  opposite  of  Smith,  a  confirmed  hypochon 
driac  ;  yet,  under  excitement  that  was  agreeable  to  his  ideas,  a  useful 
man.  Owing  to  his  peculiar  temperament,  or  the  disease  with  which 


AMERICAN  ARRIVALS  TO    1«43. 

he  was  afflicted,  his  usefulness,  and  that  of  an  interesting  and  Chris 
tian  wife,  were  cramped  and  destroyed.  He  returned  to  the  States 
with  his  family  in  1845. 

At  this  point,  perhaps  a  statement  of  all  the  names  of  persons  I 
have  been  able  to  collect  and  recollect,  and  the  year  they  arrived  in 
the  country,  will  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  reader.  A  short  history 
of  most  of  them  has  already  been  given. 

In  the  year  1834,  Rev.  Jason  Lee,  Rev.  Daniel  Lee,  Cyrus  Shepard, 
and  P.  L.  Edwards,  connected  with  the  Methodist  Mission ;  Captain 
N.  Wyeth,  American  fur  trader,  and  of  his  party  in  1832,  S.  II.  Smith, 
Burdet,  Greeley,  Sergeant,  Bull,  St.  Clair,  and  Whittier  (who  was 
helped  to  or  given  a  passage  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  by  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company)  ;  Brock,  a  gunsmith ;  Tibbets,  a  stone-cutter ;  Moore, 
killed  by  the  Blackfeet  Indians ;  Turnbull,  who  killed  himself  by  over 
eating  at  Vancouver.  There  was  also  in  the  country  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Felix  Hathaway,  saved  from  the  wreck  of  the  William  and 
Ann.  Of  this  number,  Smith,  Sergeant,  Tibbets,  and  Hathaway  re 
mained.  Of  the  party  in  1834,  James  A.  O'Neil,  T.  J.  Hubbard,  and 
Courtney  M.  Walker  remained  in  the  country,  making  six  of  Wyeth' s 
men  and  one  sailor.  C.  M.  Walker  came  with  Lee's  company.  With 
Ewing  Young,  from  California,  came,  in  this  year,  John  McCarty, 
Carmichael,  John  Hauxhurst,  Joseph  Gale,  John  Howard,  Kilboru, 
Brandy  wine,  and  George  Winslow,  a  colored  man.  By  the  brig  Mary 
land,  Captain  J.  II.  Couch,  G.  W.  Le  Breton,  John  McCaddan,  and 
William  Johnson.  An  English  sailor,  by  the  name  of  Richard  or  Dick 
McCary,  found  his  way  into  the  settlement  from  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

In  the  year  1835  it  does  not  appear  that  any  settlers  arrived  in  the 
country.  Rev.  Samuel  Parker  visited  and  explored  it  under  the  direc 
tion  of  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 

In  1836,  Rev.  II.  Spalding,  Dr.  M.  Whitman,  W.  II.  Gray,  Mrs.  Eliza 
Spalding,  and  Mrs.  Xarcissa  Whitman,  missionaries  of  the  American 
Board,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Beaver,  Episcopal  chaplain  at  Vancouver,  and 
Mrs.  Beaver.  There  appear  to  have  been  no  settlers  this  year;  at 
least,  none  known  to  us. 

In  1837,  Mrs,  A.  M.  Lee,  Mrs.  S.  Shepard,  Dr.  E.  White,  Mrs.  M. 
White,  A.  Beers,  Mrs.  R.  Beers,  Miss  E.  Johnson,  W.  H.  Wilson,  Mr. 
J.  Whitcomb,  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission.  Second 
re-enforcement  this  year :  Rev.  H.  K.  W.  Perkins,  Rev.  David  Leslie, 
Mrs.  Leslie,  Misses  Satira,  Mary,  and  Sarah  Leslie,  Miss  Margaret 
Smith,  Dr.  J.  Bailey,  an  Englishman,  George  Gay,  and  John  Turner. 

In  1838,  Rev.  Elkanah  Walker,  Mrs.  Mary  Walker,  Rev.  dishing 
Eells,  Mrs.  Elvira  Eells,  Rev.  A.  B.  Smith,  Mrs.  E.  Smith,  and  Mrs. 


192  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Mary  A.  Gray,  missionaries  of  the  American  Board.  As  laborers 
under  special  contract  not  to  trade  in  furs  or  interfere  with  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  trade,  James  Conner,  native  wife,  and  one  child,  and 
Richard  Williams,  both  from  Rocky  Mountains.  Jesuit  priests  :  Rev. 
F.  N.  Blanchet,  Rev.  Demerge,  located  at  Vancouver  and  French 
Prairie. 

In  1839,  Rev.  J.  S.  Griffin,  Mrs.  Griffin,  Asael  Munger,  Mrs.  Mary 
Munger,  Independent  Protestant  Mission ;  Robert  Shortess,  J.  Farnam, 
Sydney  Smith,  Mr.  Lawson,  Rev.  Ben.  Wright  (Independent  Metho 
dist),  Wm.  Geiger,  Mr.  Keizer,  John  Edmund  Pickernel,  a  sailor. 

In  1840,  Mrs.  Lee,  second  wife  of  Rev.  Jason  Lee;  Rev.  J.  II.  Frost 
and  wife ;  Rev.  A.  F.  Waller,  wife,  and  two  children ;  Rev.  W.  W. 
Kone  and  wife;  Rev.  G.  Ilines,  wife,  and  sister;  Rev.  L.  H.  Judson, 
wife,  and  two  children ;  Rev.  J.  L.  Parish,  wife,  and  three  children ; 
Rev.  G.  P.  Richards,  wife,  and  three  children;  Rev.  A.  P.  Olley  and 
wife.  Laymen  :  Mr.  George  Abernethy,  wife,  and  two  children  ;  Mr.  H. 
Campbell,  wife,  and  one  child ;  Mr.  W.  W.  Raymond  and  wife ;  Mr. 
H.  B.  Brewer  and  wife ;  Dr.  J.  L.  Babcock,  wife,  and  one  child  ;  Rev. 
Mrs.  Daniel  Lee;  Mrs.  David  Carter;  Mrs.  Joseph  Holman;  Miss 
E.  Phillips.  Methodist  Episcopal  Protestant  Mission :  Rev.  Harvey 
Clark  and  wife;  P.  B.  Littlejohn  and  wife.  Independent  Protestant 
Mission :  Robert  Moore,  James  Cooke,  and  James  Fletcher,  settlers. 
Jesuit  priest :  P.  G.  De  Smet,  Flathead  Mission. 

Rocky  Mountain  men  with  native  wives :  William  Craig,  Robert  or 
Dr.  Newell,  J.  L.  Meek,  James  Ebbets,  William  M.  Dougherty,  John 
Larison,  George  Wilkinson,  a  Mr.  Nicholson,  and  Mr.  Algear,  and 
William  Johnson,  author  of  the  novel,  "Leni  Leoti ;  or,  the  Prairie 
Flower."  The  subject  was  first  written  and  read  before  the  Lyceum, 
at  Oregon  City,  in  1843. 

In  the  above  list  I  have  given  the  names  of  all  the  American  settlers, 
as  near  as  I  can  remember  them,  the  list  of  names  I  once  collected 
having  been  lost.  I  never  was  fully  informed  as  to  the  different  occu 
pations  of  all  these  men.  It  will  be  seen  that  we  had  in  the  country 
in  the  fall  of  1840  thirty-six  American  settlers,  twenty-five  of  them 
with  native  wrives ;  thirty-three  American  women,  thirty-two  children, 
thirteen  lay  members  of  the  Protestant  missions,  nineteen  ministers 
(thirteen  Methodist,  six  Congregational),  four  physicians  (three  Ameri 
can  and  one  English),  three  Jesuit  priests,  and  sixty  Canadian-French, — 
making,  outside  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  one  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  Americans  and  sixty-three  Canadians,  counting  the  three 
priests  as  Canadians. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

1840. — Petition  to  Congress  of  United  States. — British  subjects  amenable  to  the  laws  of 
Canada. — Esquire  Douglas  as  justice  of  the  peace. — Mr.  Leslie  as  judge. 

EIGHTEEN  hundred  and  forty  finds  Oregon  with  her  little  population 
all  active  and  busy,  laboring  and  toiling  to  provide  the  necessaries  of 
life — food  and  raiment.  And  if  a  man  did  not  wear  the  finest  of  broad 
cloth,  his  intelligence  and  good  conduct  secured  him  a  cordial  welcome 
to  every  house  or  shanty  in  the  country  among  the  American  or 
French  settlers  and  missions.  This  was  an  innovation  upon  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  customs,  and  a  violation  of  aristocratic  rules  sought  to 
be  enforced  by  foreign  influences  and  sustained  by  the  missionaries 
then  in  the  country. 

Mr.  Hines,  in  his  21st  chapter  on  Oregon,  says :  "  The  number  of 
people  in  the  colony  was  so  small,  the  business  transactions  so  limited, 
and  the  difficulties  so  few,  that  the  necessity  of  organizing  the  com 
munity  into  a  body  politic  did  not  appear  to  be  very  great,  though  for 
two  years  persons  had  been  chosen  to  officiate  as  judges  and  magis 
trates." 

The  fact  that  the  judges  and  magistrates  officiating  were  chosen  by 
the  Methodist  Mission,  in  opposition  to  the  wish  of  the  settlers,  and 
from  whose  decisions  there  was  no  appeal,  and  that  there  was  no 
statute  or  law  book  in  the  country,  and  nothing  to  s;uide  the  decisions 
of  the  judge  or  magistrate  but  his  own  opinions,  caprice,  or  prefer 
ences,  Mr.  Hines  leaves  out  of  sight.  This  state  of  things  was  sub 
mitted  to  from  the  combined  organized  influence  of  the  Methodist 
Mission  and  the  unorganized  condition  of  the  settlers.  A  petition  was 
gotten  up  and  sent  to  Congress.  This  petition  is  too  important  a 
document  to  be  omitted.  The  writer  has  no  means  at  present  to  give 
the  names  attached  to  it.  The  petition  speaks  for  itself.  As  settlers, 
we  saw  and  knew  the  objects  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the 
English  government,  by  their  actions  and  oft-repeated  insolent  asser 
tions  that  they  meant  to  "hold  the  country'1'1  by  fair  or  by  foul  means, 
which,  as  men  understanding  the  unscrupulous  and  avaricious  disposi 
tion  of  the  entire  English  occupants  of  this  country,  we  fully  under 
stood  and  duly  appreciated,  as  will  be  readily  demonstrated  upon  a 
perusal  of  the  following : — 

13 


194  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 


Petition  of  1840. 

To  the  Honorable  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled : 

Your  petitioners  represent  unto  your  honorable  bodies,  that  they  are 
residents  in  the  Oregon  Territory,  and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or 
persons  desirous  of  becoming  such. 

They  further  represent  to  your  honorable  bodies,  that  they  have 
settled  themselves  in  said  Territory,  under  the  belief  that  it  was  a  por 
tion  of  the  public  domain  of  said  States,  and  that  they  might  rely 
upon  the  government  thereof  for  the  blessings  of  free  institutions,  and 
the  protection  of  its  arms. 

But  your  petitioners  further  represent,  that  they  are  uninformed  of 
any  acts  of  said  government  by  which  its  institutions  and  protection 
are  extended  to  them ;  in  consequence  whereof,  themselves  and  fami 
lies  are  exposed  to  be  destroyed  by  the  savages  around  them,  and 

OTHERS  THAT  WOULD  DO  THEM   HARM. 

And  your  petitioners  would  further  represent,  that  they  have  no 
means  of  protecting  their  own  and  the  lives  of  their  families,  other 
than  self-constituted  tribunals,  originated  and  sustained  by  the  power 
of  an  ill-instructed  public  opinion,  and  the  resort  to  force  and  arms. 

And  your  petitioners  represent  these  means  of  safety  to  be  an  in 
sufficient  safeguard  of  life  and  property,  and  that  the  crimes  of  theft, 
murder,  infanticide,  etc.,  are  increasing  among  them  to  an  alarming 
extent ;  and  your  petitioners  declare  themselves  unable  to  arrest  this 
progress  of  crime,  and  its  terrible  consequences,  without  the  aid  of  the 
law,  and  tribunals  to  administer  it. 

Your  petitioners  therefore  pray  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
of  America  to  establish,  as  soon  as  may  be,  a  Territorial  government  in 
the  Oregon  Territory. 

And  if  reasons  other  than  those  above  presented  were  needed  to 
induce  your  honorable  bodies  to  grant  the  prayer  of  the  undersigned, 
your  petitioners,  they  would  be  found  in  the  value  of  this  Territory  to 
the  nation,  and  the  alarming  circumstances  that  portend  its  loss. 

Your  petitioners,  in  view  of  these  last  considerations,  would  rep 
resent,  that  the  English  government  has  had  a  surveying  squadron 
on  the  Oregon  coast  for  the  last  two  years,  employed  in  making  accu 
rate  surveys  of  all  its  rivers,  bays,  and  harbors ;  and  that,  recently,  the 
said  government  is  said  to  have  made  a  grant  to  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  of  all  lands  lying  between  the  Columbia  River  and  Puget 
Sound ;  and  that  said  company  is  actually  exercising  unequivocal  acts 


PETITION  TO  CONGRESS.  195 

of  ownership   over  said  lands   thus   granted,    and  opening  extensive 
farms  upon  the  same. 

And  your  petitioners  represent,  that  these  circumstances,  connected 
with  other  acts  of  said  company  to  the  same  effect,  and  their  declara 
tions  that  the  English  government  own  and  will  hold,  as  its  own  soil^ 
that  portion  of  Oregon  Territory  situated  north  of  the  Columbia  River, 
together  with  the  important  fact  that  the  said  company  are  cutting  and 
sawing  into  lumber,  and  shipping  to  foreign  ports,  vast  quantities  of 
the  finest  pine-trees  upon  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Columbia,  have 
led  your  petitioners  to  apprehend  that  the  English  government  do 
intend,  at  all  events,  to  hold  that  portion  of  this  Territory  lying  north 
of  the  Columbia  River. 

And  your  petitioners  represent,  that  the  said  Territory,  north  of  the 
Columbia,  is  an  invaluable  possession  to  the  American  Union  ;  that  in 
and  about  Puget  Sound  are  the  only  harbors  of  easy  access,  and  com 
modious  and  safe,  upon  the  whole  coast  of  the  Territory ;  and  that  a 
great  part  of  this  said  northern  portion  of  the  Oregon  Territory  is  rich 
in  timber,  water-power,  and  valuable  minerals.  For  these  and  other 
reasons,  your  petitioners  pray  that  Congress  will  establish  its  sover 
eignty  over  said  Territory. 

Your  petitioners  would  further  represent,  that  the  country  south 
of  the  Columbia  River,  and  north  of  the  Mexican  line,  and  extending 
from  the  Pacific  Ocean  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  into  the  interior, 
is  of  unequaled  beauty  and  fertility.  Its  mountains,  covered  with  per 
petual  snow,  pouring  into  the  prairies  around  their  bases  transparent 
streams  of  the  purest  water;  the  white  and  black  oak,  pine,  cedar,  and 
fir  forests  that  divide  the  prairies  into  sections  convenient  for  farming 
purposes ;  the  rich  mines  of  coal  in  its  hills,  and  salt  springs  in  its  val 
leys  ;  its  quarries  of  limestone,  sandstone,  chalk,  and  marble ;  the  sal 
mon  of  its  rivers,  and  the  various  blessings  of  the  delightful  and  healthy 
climate,  are  known  to  us,  and  impress  your  petitioners  with  the  belief 
that  this  is  one  of  the  most  favored  portions  of  the  globe. 

Indeed,  the  deserts  of  the  interior  have  their  wealth  of  pasturage ; 
and  their  lakes,  evaporating  in  summer,  leave  in  their  basins  hundreds 
of  bushels  of  the  purest  soda.  Many  other  circumstances  could  be 
named,  showing  the  importance  of  this  Territory  in  a  national,  com 
mercial,  and  agricultural  point  of  view.  And,  although  your  petition 
ers  would  not  undervalue  considerations  of  this  kind,  yet  they  beg  leave 
especially  to  call  the  attention  of  Congress  to  their  own  condition  as  an 
infant  colony,  without  military  force  or  civil  institutions  to  protect  their 
lives  and  property  and  children,  sanctuaries  and  tombs,  from  the  hands 
of  uncivilized  and  merciless  savages  around  them.  We  respectfully  ask 


196  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

for  the  civil  institutions  of  the  American  Republic.  We  pray  for  the 
high  privileges  of  American  citizenship;  the  peaceful  enjoyment  of  life; 
the  right  of  acquiring,  possessing,  and  using  property ;  and  the  unre 
strained  pursuit  of  rational  happiness.  And  for  this  your  petitioners 

will  ever  pray. 

DAVID  LESLIE,  [and  others.]* 

We  have  before  alluded  to  the  fact  that  the  English  government,  by 
act  of  Parliament,  had  extended  the  colonial  jurisdiction  and  civil  laws 
of  Canada  over  all  her  subjects  on  this  coast,  and  had  commissioned 
James  Douglas,  Angus  McDonald,  and,  I  think,  Mr.  Wark,  as  justices 
of  the  peace,  having  jurisdiction  in  civil  cases  not  exceeding  two  hun 
dred  pounds  sterling.  In  criminal  cases,  if  the  magistrate  found,  on 
examination,  sufficient  cause,  the  accused  was  to  be  sent  to  Canada  for 
final  trial.  In  all  minor  matters  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  were  abso 
lute.  Their  men,  by  the  articles  of  enlistment,  were  bound  to  obey  all 
orders  of  a  superior  officer,  as  much  so  as  a  soldier  in  the  army.  Flog 
ging  was  a  common  punishment  inflicted  by  all  grades  of  officers,  from 
a  petty  clerk  of  a  trading-post  up  to  the  governor  of  the  company.  All 
British  subjects,  or  any  that  had  been  subjects  to  the  British  crown, 
were  considered  as  amenable  to  the  laws  of  Canada,  which  were  deliv 
ered  from  the  brain  of  the  magistrate  or  judge,  who  perchance  may 
have  passed  through  some  parts  of  Canada  on  his  way  to  this  coast,  no 
one  knew  when.  Of  course  he  knew  all  about  the  laws  he  wras  to  enforce 
upon  her  Majesty's  subjects,  the  same  as  our  American  judge,  I.  L. 
Babcock,  did  of  the  laws  he  was  called  upon  to  administer  among  the 
American  settlers.  Although  the  following  incident  is  not  exactly  in 
the  order  of  time  in  which  we  are  writing,  yet  it  illustrates  the  legal 
knowledge  of  Esquire  Douglas  so  well  that  the  reader  wrill  excuse  me 
for  giving  it  just  here.  The  case  occurred  in  the  summer  of  1846,  I 
think  in  August.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  British  subjects 
in  the  country  had  changed  from  the  open  opposition  policy  to  that  of 
union  with  the  provisional  government,  and  some  of  the  members  of  the 
company  had  been  elected  to  office.  Mr.  Douglas  had  received  a  com 
mission  as  justice  of  the  peace  and  county  judge  from  Governor  Aber- 
nethy.  A  man  by  the  name  of  McLame  had  taken  it  into  his  head  to 
jump  a  claim  belonging  to  one  of  the  company's  servants,  near  Fort 
Vancouver.  The  fact  was  duly  stated  to  Esquire  Douglas,  who  issued 
his  warrant  commanding  the  sheriff,  a  servant  of  the  company,  to  arrest 
McLame.  The  sheriff  proceeded  with  his  warrant  and  posse,  took 
McLame,  brought  him  to  the  fort,  and  put  him  in  irons  to  keep  him 

*  Senate  Document,  Twenty-sixth  Congress,  first  session.     No.  514. 


TRIAL  OF  McLAME.  197 

secure  until  he  could  be  tried.  The  day  following,  the  writer  arrived 
at  the  fort,  and  as  he  was  an  old  acquaintance  of  Esquire  Douglas,  and 
also  holding  a  commission  of  justice  of  the  peace  and  judge  of  the 
county  court,  Esquire  Douglas  stated  the  case  to  him,  and  asked  his 
advice  how  to  conduct  it.  I  inquired  what  it  was  McLatne  had  done. 

"  Why,  he  wrent  upon  the  land  of  one  of  our  people  and  set  up  a 
claim  to  it,  and  made  some  threats." 

"Did  he  use  any  weapons,  or  injure  any  one?" 

"No;  but  he  was  very  insulting,  as  the  men  tell  me;  used  abusive 
language  and  frightened  the  men,  and  attempted  to  get  them  off  the 
claim,  is  the  most  he  did." 

"  Well,  Esquire,  I  think  if  you  do  not  manage  this  case  carefully  you 
will  have  a  devil  of  a  muss  among  these  fellows." 

"  What  do  you  think  I  had  better  do  ?"  says  the  Esquire. 

"  If  it  was  my  case,  as  it  is  yours,  I  would  call  the  court  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  call  the  parties.  McLarne  claims  to  know  something  of 
law,  and  he  will  plead  his  own  case,  or  get  some  one  that  don't  know 
any  more  about  law  than  he  does,  and  they  will  call  for  a  nonsuit  on 
account  of  some  illegality  in  the  warrant  or  pleadings,  and  the  first 
show  you  have,  give  them  a  nonsuit,  and  decide  against  your  own  peo 
ple.  This  will  satisfy  McLame  and  his  party,  and  the  matter  will  end 
there.  The  suit  is  a  civil  one,  and  should  have  been  by  notice  and  sum 
mons,  for  'forcible  entry  and  detainer,'  instead  of  an  arrest  and  con 
finement  as  a  criminal.  They  may  attempt  to  make  false  imprisonment 
out  of  it.  If  they  do,  I  would  settle  it  the  best  way  I  could." 

I  never  learned  the  exact  manner  in  which  this  case  was  settled.  I 
think  McLame  received  some  compensation  and  the  matter  was  settled. 
But  the  Esquire  never  fully  recovered  from  the  effect  of  this  legal 
attempt  at  provisional  American  wisdom,  as  he  came  as  near  involving 
the  two  governments  in  a  national  war  in  the  San  Juan  boundary  ques 
tion,  in  1849,  as  he  did  the  country,  in  attempting  to  protect  the  unrea 
sonable  claims  of  the  company's  servants  in  1846.  As  to  law  books  or 
legal  knowledge,  the  country  in  those  early  times  could  not  boast  of 
having  an  extensive  law  library  or  profound  lawyers,  and,  as  was  to  be 
expected,  some  new  and  strange  lawsuits  occurred. 

Of  the  following  case  we  have  no  personal  knowledge,  and  can  only 
give  it  as  related  to  us  by  parties  present.  T.  J.  Hubbard,  of  Cham- 
poeg,  had  a  native  wife.  She  was  claimed  and  coveted  by  a  neighbor 
of  his,  who  threatened  to  take  her  from  him.  Hubbard  was  armed,  and 
prepared  to  defend  his  own  supposed  or  real  right  of  possession  from 
his  covetous  neighbor,  who  attempted  to  enter  his  cabin  window,  or 
space  where  a  window  might  be  put  (in  case  the  owner  had  one  to  go 


198  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

there).  Hubbard  shot  him  while  attempting  to  enter,  and  submitted 
to  a  trial.  Rev.  Mr.  Leslie  presided  as  judge.  A  jury  was  called, 
and  the  statements  of  all  parties  that  pretended  to  know  any  thing 
about  the  case  made.  The  verdict  was,  "  Justifiable  homicide."  The 
petition  which  was  gotten  up  about  this  time,  says  that  "  theft,  mur 
der,  and  infanticide,  are  increasing  among  them  to  an  alarming  extent." 
A  fact  was  unquestionably  stated  in  the  petition,  that  justice  and  virtue 
were  comparative  strangers  in  the  country.  Despotism  and  oppression, 
with  false  notions  of  individual  rights  and  personal  liberty,  were  strong 
ly  at  variance.  The  leading  men,  or  such  as  one  would  naturally  sup 
pose  to  be  guides  of  the  erring,  seemed  to  have  fixed  a  personal  stand 
ard  for  virtue,  justice,  and  right,  not  difficult  for  the  most  abandoned 
to  comply  with. 


CHAPTER  XXVH. 

Death  of  Ewing  Young. — First  public  attempt  to  organize  a  provisional  government. — 
Origin  of  the  provisional  government. — First  Oregon  schooner. 

IN  the  early  part  of  this  year,  about  the  15th  of  February,  1841,  Mr. 
Ewing  Young,  having  been  sick  but  a  short  time,  died.  He  left  a  large 
band  of  cattle  and  horses  and  no  will,  and  seems  to  have  had  no  heirs 
in  the  country.  On  the  17th  we  find  most  of  the  settlers  present  at  the 
funeral.  After  burying  Mr.  Young,  a  meeting  was  called,  over  which 
Rev.  Jason  Lee  presided.  After  some  discussion  it  was  thought  best  to 
adjourn  to  meet  at  the  Methodist  Mission. 

On  the  next  day,  the  18th,  short  as  the  notice  was,  nearly  all  the 
settlers  were  present, — Canadians,  French,  English,  Americans,  and 
Protestant  missionaries  and  Jesuit  priests. 

Rev.  Jason  Lee,  for  some  cause  not  stated,  was  excused  from  acting 
as  chairman,  and  Rev.  David  Leslie  elected  to  fill  his  place.  Rev. 
Gustavus  Hines  and  Sydney  Smith  were  chosen  as  secretaries.  "The 
doings  of  the  previous  day  were  presented  to  the  assembly  and  adopted 
in  part."  Why  does  not  Mr.  Hines  give  us  all  the  proceedings  of  the 
previous  day  ?  Was  there  any  thing  in  them  that  reflected  upon  the 
disposition  of  the  reverend  gentleman  to  control  the  property  of  the 
deceased  Mr.  Young,  and  apply  it  to  the  use  of  the  mission,  or  dis 
tribute  it  among  its  members  ? 

We  are  well  aware  of  the  fact  that,  on  the  death  of  a  person  in  any 
way  connected  wTith,  or  in  the  service  of,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
they  at  once  administer  upon  his  estate,  to  the  setting  aside  of  the  will 
of  the  deceased,  as  in  the  case  of  Mr.  P.  C.  Pambrun,  which  occurred 
the  summer  before  Mr.  Young's  decease ;  and,  more  recently,  of  Mr. 
Ray,  who  died  at  San  Francisco.  Mr.  Ray  was  an  active,  energetic 
young  man,  had  wron  the  heart  and  hand  of  Miss  McLaughlin,  youngest 
daughter  of  Governor  McLaughlin,  and  by  this  marriage  had  three 
interesting  children,  a  sou  and  two  daughters.  By  his  trading  and 
speculations  with  his  private  funds,  he  had  acquired  a  handsome  fortune 
for  his  young  family.  At  his  death  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  sent 
an  agent  to  take  charge  of  the  property.  He  claimed  that  as  Mr.  Ray 
was  a  servant  of  the  company,  and  in  their  employ,  he  had  no  right  to 
acquire  property  outside  of  their  business ;  hence,  the  property  belonged 


200  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

to  the  company.  The  books  were  canceled,  and  left  his  estate  in  debt 
to  the  company,  and  his  family  destitute.  His  widow  was  obliged  to 
take  in  washing,  which  was  given  her  by  some  American  officers  then 
at  that  place.  By  this  means  she  supported  herself  and  young  family 
till  she  could  obtain  help  from  her  father,  who  had  withdrawn  from  the 
company,  and  was  then  residing  in  Oregon  City. 

This  is  as  good  an  illustration  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  gen 
erosity  as  can  be  given.  They  pursued  Dr.  IVJcLaughlin  and  his  chil 
dren  to  the  death.  Their  influence  and  statements  have  led  the  Ameri 
can  people  to  mistake  the  doctor's  unbounded  generosity  to  them  as 
wholly  due  to  the  company,  and  changed  the  friendly  feeling  nnd  re 
wards  due  to  Dr.  McLaughliu  for  needed  supplies  in  the  hour  of  greatest 
peril  to  their  own  account,  at  the  same  time  holding  the  doctor's  estate 
responsible  for  every  dollar,  as  they  did  Mr.  Kay's. 

As  to  Messrs.  Shepard's  and  Olley's  estates,  they  were  both  adminis 
tered  by  the  Methodist  Mission,  or  some  one  or  more  of  its  members.  I 
have  never  been  able  to  learn  the  results,  but  have  been  informed  that, 
as  they  were  members  of  the  mission,  the  little  property  they  had  was 
disposed  of  as  per  mission  usage.  In  the  case  of  Mr.  Young,  the  set 
tlers  found  themselves  somewhat  interested.  As  to  any  Frenchman  or 
Roman  Catholic,  it  was  taken  for  granted,  if  he  was  not  the  servant  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  his  property  went  to  the  priest. 

The  settlers  were  united  in  the  opinion  that  some  understanding  or 
laws  should  be  adopted  to  govern  the  settlement  of  estates,  other  than 
the  custom  adopted  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  or  the  missions ; 
hence  they  all  turned  out,  and  were  completely  defeated  by  the  opera 
tions  of  the  Jesuit  and  Methodist  missions.  A  resolution  was  ready, 
prepared  for  the  occasion  : — 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  chosen  to  form  a  constitution,  and 
draft  a  code  of  laws,  and  that  the  following  persons  compose  that  com 
mittee  :  Rev.  F.  N.  Blanchet,  Rev.  Jason  Lee,  Rev.  Gustavus  Hines, 
Rev.  Josiah  L.  Parish ;  Mr.  D.  Donpierre,  Mr.  M.  Charlevo,  Mr.  Robert 
Moore,  Mr.  E.  Lucia,  Mr.  Wm.  Johnson." 

The  committee  first  named  in  the  resolution  contained  the  names  of 
the  three  first-named  clergymen.  This  was  clerical  law  and  constitution 
a  little  too  strong.  It  was  then  moved  to  put  upon  the  committee 
some  that  were  not  clergymen.  The  committee  was  finally  made  up  of 
nine.  Now  comes  the  test  of  all, — the  governor.  Revs.  Leslie  and 
Hines,  and  Drs.  Babcock  and  Bailey  were  prominent  candidates.  The 
prospects  were  that  the  three  Protestant  missionary  candidates  would 
divide  that  influence  so  that  Dr.  Bailey  would  be  elected. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  Dr.  Bailey  was  a  man  of  strong  English 


FIRST  PROVISIONAL  GOVERNMENT  MEETING.  201 

prejudices,  and  opposed  to  religious  societies  and  religion  generally. 
He  could  secure  the  French  Catholic  vote,  and  the  majority  of  the  set 
tlers.  He  was  present  at  the  meeting,  with  his  Canadian,  French,  and 
Hudson's  Bay  servant  voters,  all  trained  to  vote  for  him  for  governor. 
He  nominated  himself,  and  so  disgusted  the  American  settlers  that  they 
joined  in  the  effort  to  defeat  him. 

Mr.  Hines  was  the  prominent  candidate  to  enter  the  field,  and  secure 
the  leading  influence  in  the  government.  That  office  was  the  leading 
question, — Bailey  could  not  be  trusted,  and  Hines  could  not  be  elected ; 
hence  the  office  of  governor  was  discarded,  and  the  committee  instruct 
ed  to  prepare  a  constitution  and  laws,  to  be  executed  without  an  execu 
tive.  This  was  a  shrewd  and  cunning  device,  to  say  the  least  of  it, 
one  calculated  to  make  the  judicial  and  executive  office  one,  in  the  same 
person  ;  which  seemed  by  common  consent  to  be  Dr.  I.  L.  Babcock,  a 
man  equally  as  ambitious  and  aspiring  as  Dr.  Bailey,  but  in  good  stand 
ing  in  the  mission,  and  a  stranger  to  the  settlers.  This  point  gained, 
George  W.  Le  Breton,  a  young  adventurer,  who  came  to  the  country  in 
the  employ  of  Captain  Couch,  on  the  brig  Maryland,  having  a  fair  edu 
cation,  and  generally  intelligent  and  agreeable  in  conversation,  who 
had  been  brought  up  in  good  society,  and  was  inclined  to,  or  educated 
in,  the  Roman  faith.  This  young  man  was  elected  to  fill  the  offices  of 
clerk  of  the  court  and  public  recorder,  as  a  compromise  with  the  Jesuits. 
To  harmonize  the  English  element,  Win.  Johnson  was  elected  high 
sheriff.  Zavia  Ladaroot,  Pierre  Billique,  and  Wm.  McCarty  were 
chosen  constables.  Messrs.  Gervais,  Cannon,  Robert  Moore,  arid  Rev. 
L.  H.  Judson  were  chosen  justices  of  the  peace.  Here  conies  the  climax 
of  all  wisdom  : — 

"  It  was  then  resolved,  that,  until  a  code  of  laws  be  drafted  by  the 
Legislative  Committee  and  adopted  by  the  people,  Ira  L.  Babcock,  the 
supreme  judge,  be  instructed  to  act" — just  as  he  pleased.  Mr.  Hines 
says  in  his  book,  419th  page — "according  to  the  laws  of  the  State  of 
New  York." 

I  query  whether  there  was  a  single  copy  of  the  laws  of  that  State  in 
the  country  for  ten  years  after  the  last  resolution  was  passed.  I  know 
there  was  none  at  the  time,  and  only  a  single  copy  of  the  laws  of  Iowa 
two  years  after;  hence,  Ira  L.  Babcock  was  law-maker,  judge,  and 
executive  to  the  settlement,  just  as  much  so  as  John  McLaughlin  was 
to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

To  keep  up  the  farce  (for  the  whole  proceeding  deserves  no  other 
name),  "  it  was  then  resolved  to  adjourn,  to  meet  the  first  Thursday  in 
June,  at  the  new  building  near  the  Roman  Catholic  church."  The  record 
proceeds:  "Thursday,  June  11,  1841.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Wai- 


202  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

t 

lamet  Valley  met  according  to  adjournment,  and  the  meeting  was 
called  to  order  by  the  chairman,  Rev.  David  Leslie.  On  motion,  the 
doings  of  the  former  meeting  were  read,  on  which  the  committee  for 
drafting  a  constitution  and  code  of  laws  was  called  for,  and  information 
was  communicated  to  the  meeting  by  the  chairman  of  the  committee, 
that,  in  consequence  of  his  riot  having  called  the  committee  together, 
no  report  had  been  prepared."  His  Jesuitical  Reverence,  F.  N.  Blan- 
chet,  was  excused  from  serving  on  the  committee,  at  his  own  request. 
The  settlers  and  uninitiated  were  informed  by  his  reverence  that  he 
was  unaccustomed  to  make  laws  for  the  people,  and  did  not  understand 
how  to  proceed,  while  divide  and  conquer,  the  policy  adopted  by  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  was  entered  into  with  heart  and  soul  by  this 
Reverend  Father  Blanchet  and  his  associates.  "  On  motion,  it  was 
then  resolved,  that  a  person  be  chosen  to  fill  the  place  thus  vacated  in 
the  committee  for  drafting  a  constitution  and  code  of  laws,  and  Dr. 
Wm.  J.  Bailey  was  chosen." 

The  motion  that  follows  shows  that  the  settlers  were  suspicious  of 
influences  operating  against  them  to  deprive  them  of  a  voice  in  their 
own  government,  for  they  then,  "  on  motion,  resolved  that  this  com 
mittee  be  instructed  to  meet  for  the  transaction  of  their  business  on  the 
first  Monday  of  August  next."  They  further  instructed  this  commit 
tee  to  report  at  a  subsequent  meeting,  "  to  be  held  the  first  Thursday 
in  October  next.  On  motion,  resolved,  that  the  committee  be  advised 
to  confer  with  the  commander  of  the  American  exploring  squadron 
now  in  the  Columbia  River,  concerning  the  propriety  of  forming  a 
provisional  government  in  Oregon." 

"  Resolved,  That  the  motion  to  adopt  the  report  of  the  nominating 
committee  presented  at  a  previous  meeting  be  rescinded."  Were  the 
settlers  really  in  favor  of  an  organization  adapted  to  their  wants,  and 
contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  clerical  gov 
ernment  then  existing  ?  The  above  resolution  shows  the  fact.  They 
have  handsomely  relieved  the  Jesuits  of  their  responsibility,  and  left 
them  to  work  with  their  associates  and  co-laborers, — the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  and  Indians.  They,  to  soften  matters,  allowed  the  commit 
tee  to  consider  the  nature  of  the  government  about  to  be  formed,  and 
the  officers  necessary,  and — 

"  Resolved,  That  the  committee  to  draft  a  constitution  be  instructed 
to  take  into  consideration  the  number  and  kind  of  officers  it  will  be 
necessary  to  create,  in  accordance  with  their  constitution  and  code  of 
laws,  and  to  report  the  same  at  the  next  meeting."  It  was  also 
resolved  that  the  report  of  the  nominating  committee  be  referred  to 
the  Legislative  Committee. 


OPPOSITION  TO  AMERICAN'S.  203 

Mr.  Secretary  Hines  does  not  give  us  the  names  of  the  nominating 
committee  and  the  officers  they  first  reported. 

The  meeting  held  at  or  near  the  Roman  Catholic  church  on  the 
llth  of  June  was  adjourned  to  meet  at  the  Methodist  Mission  at  eleven 
o'clock  on  the  first  Thursday  in  October  following.  Duly  signed, 
David  Leslie,  chairman ;  Gustavus  Hines,  Sydney  Smith,  secretaries. 
The  whole  humbug  had  been  completed  ;  the  Methodist  Mission  party 
was  safe ;  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  Jesuits  only  wanted  time  to 
carry  out  their  arrangements  and  drive  the  whole  concern  from  the 
country,  or  make  a  grand  sacrifice  for  the  benefit  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company's  trade  and  mother  church. 

The  idea  of  resisting  the  American  influence  was  no  new  one ;  it  was 
announced  as  early  as  1838.  The  combinations  were  ready  to  be  made 
that,  at  the  proper  time,  every  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  man  felt  certain, 
would  accomplish  the  object  they  desired.  They  were  ready  and  did 
invest  their  money  upon  the  issue  ?  It  is  true  other  parties  came  in 
and  formed  combinations  that  they  supposed  themselves  capable  of 
destroying  by  a  single  word.  They  failed;  and  in  1865  we  find 
them,  the  petitioners,  with  a  host  of  those  they  sought  to  rob,  crying 
against  their  injustice.  They  ask  for  compensation  for  attempting  to 
prevent  the  rightful  owners  of  the  country  from  occupying  it.  This  is 
in  keeping  with  their  whole  course.  Their  impudence  may  carry  them* 
through  and  win  their  case,  which  justice  and  truth  should  deny  them. 

Mr.  Hines  says,  page  240 :  "  I  have  previously  stated  that  the  origin 
of  the  attempt  to  form  a  kind  of  provisional  government  was  the  re 
moval  by  death  of  the  late  Ewing  Young,  leaving,  as  he  did,  a  large  and 
unsettled  estate,  with  no  one  to  administer  it,  and  no  law  to  control  its 
administration.  The  exigency  of  this  cas.e  having  been  met  by  the 
appointment  of  a  judge  with  probate  powers,  who  entered  immediately 
upon  his  duties  "  (giving  no  bonds  to  any  body),  "  and  disposed  of  the 
estate  of  Ewing  Young  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  community,  and 
the  fact  that  some  of  the  most  influential  citizens  of  the  country,  and 
especially  some  of  the  Legislative  Committee,  were  adverse  to  the  idea 
of  establishing  a  permanent  organization  so  long  as  the  peace  and  har 
mony  of  the  community  could  possibly  be  preserved  without  it,  the 
subject  was  permitted  to  die  away  and  the  committee  for  drafting  a 
constitution  and  code  of  laws  did  not  meet  according  to  their  instruc 
tions,  nor  did  the  meeting  at  which  they  were  expected  to  report  ever 
take  place." 

Mr.  Hines,  in  his  account  of  this  affair,  is  not  quite  satisfied  himself 
with  the  reasons  he  has  given,  so  he  goes  on  to  state  many  facts  as 
connected  with  the  arrival  of  the  exploring  squadron  of  the  United 


204:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

States,  under  command  of  Captain  Wilkes,  and  says,  page  421:  "In 
addition  to  this,  the  officers  of  the  squadron  were  consulted  on  the 
subject  of  organizing  the  country  into  a  civil  compact,  and  were  found. 
to  be  decidedly  opposed  to  the  scheme,  and  recommended  that  the 
subject  be  allowed  to  rest.  They  encouraged  the  people  in  the  belief 
that  the  United  States  government  would  probably  soon  extend  juris 
diction  over  the  country." 

To  the  disgrace  of  the  leader  of  that  squadron,  the  general  impression 
of  all  the  early  settlers  of  this  country  is,  to  the  present  day,  that  he 
understood  and  tasted  the  qualities  of  Dr.  McLaughlin's  liquors,  and  re 
ceived  the  polite  attentions  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  with  far  more  pleasure  than  he  looked  into  or  regarded  the  wants 
of  this  infant  settlement  of  his  countrymen.  Mr.  Hines  says  "  the 
officers  of  the  squadron  decidedly  opposed  the  scheme."  And  why  did 
they  do  it  ?  Simply  because  the  parties  named  above  were  opposed. 
They  had  absolute  control  of  the  persons  and  property  of  all  ill  the 
country,  and  they  scrupled  not  to  keep  and  use  their  power  to  the  last. 

The  unconquerable  energy  of  the  Americans  was  this  year  mani 
fested  in  the  building  of  a  schooner,  of  about  forty  tons  burden,  on  a 
little  island  some  four  miles  above  the  present  city  of  Portland.  R.  L. 
Kilborn,  of  the  party  of  Ewing  Young,  Charley  Matts,  P.  Armstrong, 
who  was  afterward  killed  in  the  Indian  war  on  Rogue  River,  H.  Woods, 
John  Green,  and  George  Davis  engaged  in  this  enterprise.  They  em 
ployed  Felix  Hathaway,  who  was  saved  from  the  wreck  of  the  William 
and  Ann,  as  head  carpenter,  and  commenced  their  work.  To  obtain 
spikes  and  such  irons  as  were  required,  they  had  it  reported  that  they 
were  going  to  build  a  ferry-boat  to  cross  the  Wallamet  River.  To  ob 
tain  rigging,  they  induced  the  French  farmers  to  go  to  Fort  Vancouver 
and  get  ropes  to  use  in  the  old  Dutch  harness  for  plowing,  Dr.  Mc- 
Laughlin  having  informed  them  in  the  start,  that  he  did  not  approve 
of  their  scheme,  and  would  furnish  them  no  supplies.  They,  however, 
were  not  to  be  deterred  in  their  undertaking.  Procuring  a  whip-saw  of 
the  mission,  and  such  tools  as  they  could  spare,  these  men  commenced 
their  work ;  and  when  Captain  Wilkes  visited  them,  and  found  they 
had  a  substantial  and  sea-worthy  craft  well  under  way,  he  furnished 
them  such  articles  from  his  stores  as  he  could  spare,  and  spoke  favor 
ably  of  their  enterprise  to  Dr.  McLaughlin,  who  became  more  liberal ; 
so  that,  with  the  assistance  of  Captain  Wilkes,  the  mission,  and  such  as 
they  received  from  Dr.  McLaughlin,  the  vessel  was  launched  and  made 
trips  to  California,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Joseph  Gale,  who 
returned  to  Oregon  in  1843,  and  was  elected  one  of  our  Executive 
Committee,  with  David  Hill  and  Alanson  Beers. 


CHAPTER  XXYIIL 

Lee  and  Hmes  explore  the  Umpqua  River. — Mr.  Hines  tells  a  story. — Massacre  and 
plunder  of  Smith's  party  by  the  Indians. — Sympathy  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company. — Extract  from  the  San  Francisco  Bulletin. 

THE  reader  is  requested  to  note  the  statements  that  follow,  as  they 
show  influences  operating  that  tell  how  active  the  enemies  of  the 
Protestant  missions  had  been.  Mr.  Hines  admits  that  he  owed  his  own 
and  Mr.  Lee's  life  to  the  wife  of  Guinea.  (See  his  journal,  page  109.) 
He  says :  "  During  the  evening  Mr.  Guinea  came  to  us  considerably 
excited,  and  warmly  congratulated  us  on  the  safe  guardianship  his  wife 
had  exercised  over  us  in  our  absence.  He  said  that  in  all  probability 
we  should  have  been  robbed  of  all  we  had,  if  we  had  not  lost  our  lives, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  faithfulness  of  his  wife  and  her  brother.  He 
told  us  that  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  clan  we  had  visited  was  at  the  fort. 
Learning  that  we  designed  to  visit  his  people  on  the  coast,  excited  with 
the  utmost  fear,  he  hastened  down  the  river  and  reported  many  evil 
things  about  us,  intending  thereby  to  instigate  the  Indians  to  prevent 
us  from  going  among  them." 

Mr.  Hines,  can  you  vouch  for  the  truth  of  this  statement  ?  I  be- 
liqve  sincerely  you  have  told  the  truth,  for  you  even  attempt  to  excuse 
the  Indian  for  his  fears,  and  have  not  the  least  suspicion  of  the  sources 
from  which  the  Indian  received  his  instruction  and  is  made  to  believe 
that  you  and  Mr.  Jason  Lee  had  come  with  your  medicine  bag  to  de 
stroy  them.  Let  us  hear  Mr.  Hines'  excuse  for  the  Indian's  fears,  in 
his  own  words.  He  says  :  "  Mr.  Lee  had  brought  a  fowling-piece  with 
him,  and  had  in  his  possession  a  patent  shot-pouch.  This  was  the  thing 
that  had  alarmed  the  chief.  One  story  he  told  was,  that  we  had 
brought  medicine  in  a  bag  that  Mr.  Lee  wore  on  his  neck,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  killing  them  all  off;  and  that  if  we  were  permitted  to  come 
among  them  the  fatal  bag  would  be  opened  and  they  would  all  be 
destroyed." 

How  did  these  Indians  learn  about  the  missionary  medicine  bag  ? 
Our  good  friend,  Guinea,  Mr.  Hines  tells  us,  is  from  Montreal,  and  of 
a  good  family, — a  Frenchman.  This  trip,  it  seems,  was  made  in  1840, 
about  the  26th  day  of  October.  Dr.  Whitman  had  not  yet  gone  to 
the  States,  but  the  medicine-bag  story  is  tried  with  the  Indians  on  the 


206  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Umpqua.  Guinea  has  a  little  too  much  sense  of  moral  responsibility 
to  allow  his  Indians  to  commence  the  slaughter  of  Lee  and  Hines,  as 
Dr.  White  had  come  with  them  and  seen  them  safe  at  the  fort,  and  liad 
returned  to  the  settlement.  The  medicine  man  of  the  Methodist  Mis 
sion  had  escaped,  and  it  was  not  best  to  commence  on  these  preachers. 
Madam  Siivash  Guinea  must  accompany  them,  to  watch  and  explain 
matters  and  protect  them. 

Mr.  Hines  says,  page  100  :  "We  had  been  informed  by  Mr.  Guinea 
that  there  would  be  great  danger  in  our  going  among  them  alone,  and 
indeed  he  appeared  to  stand  in  the  utmost  fear  of  them,  of  their  hos 
tility  to  the  whites,  and  especially  to  the  Americans" 

Can  a  reasonable  man  read  this  simple  narrative  with  the  light  of 
history,  and  facts  piled  on  facts,  with  the  stains  of  the  blood  of  our 
countrymen  all  over  the  country,  and  not  trace  the  cause  of  these  foul 
murders  to  their  true  source  ?  While  none  but  American  traders  and 
hunters  were  in  the  country,  it  was  an  easy  matter  to  dispose  of  them, 
but  when  the  American  missionary  comes  among  the  natives,  another 
element  of  opposition  must  be  introduced;  moral  teachings  must  be 
met  by  religious  superstitions,  to  secure  the  victim,  to  advance  the  in 
terests  of  an  unscrupulous  trade.  Let  us  take  another  statement  from 
Mr.  Hines  before  we  proceed  with  his  political  history.  On  page  106,  in 
speaking  of  the  closing  remarks  of  the  chief  at  the  mouth  of  the  Umpqua, 
he  tells  us,  the  chief  "  said  he  was  very  glad  we  had  come  to  see  them ; 
that  their  hearts  toward  us  were  like  our  hearts  toward  them  ;  that  he 
wanted  us  to  continue  with  them  another  day  and  tell  them  about  God ; 
that  they  had  heard  about  us,  and  had  been  told  that  we  were  a  bad  peo 
ple."  Who  told  these  wild  Indians  this  f  Was  it  an  American  that  had 
been  living  among  them  and  teaching  them  that  his  countrymen  were 
a  bad  people  ?  "  That  they  were  glad  to  see  us  for  themselves,  and 
were  convinced  that  what  they  had  heard  was  a  lie  ;  that  they  now  be 
lieve  us  to  be  good,  and  that  they  meant  to  be  good  also." 

Mr.  Hines  tells  a  story,  as  he  received  it  from  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  gentlemen,  to  show  that  these  Indians  are  very  treacherous 
and  not  to  be  relied  upon,  especially  those  on  the  coast.  It  relates  to 
a  company  of  fur  hunters  composed  of  Smith,  Sublet,  and  Jackson.  At 
page  110  of  his  book,  he  says:  "In  this  division  Smith  was  to  take 
the  country  extending  from  the  Platte  River  by  the  way  of  Santa  Fe 
to  California ;  then  turn  north  along  the  Pacific  Ocean  as  far  as 
the  Columbia  River,  and  thence  back  into  the  interior  to  join  the  other 
partners  of  the  company.  The  country  was  in  the  wildest  state,  but 
few  white  men  having  ever  passed  through  it.  But,  nothing  daunted, 
Smith  and  his  companions  marched  through  to  California,  and  thence 


MURDER   OF   SMITH'S   PARTY.  207 

along  the  coast  north  as  far  as  the  Umpqua  River,  collecting  in  their 
course  all  the  valuable  furs  they  could  procure,  until  they  had  loaded 
several  pack  animals  with  the  precious  burden  [forty  packs  of  furs].  On 
arriving  here,  they  encamped  on  the  borders  of  the  river  near  the  place 
where  they  intended  to  cross,  but,  on  examination,  found  it  would  be 
dangerous,  if  not  impossible,  to  effect  the  passage  of  the  river  at  that 
place.  Accordingly,  Smith  took  one  of  his  men  [he  had  two]  and  pro 
ceeded  up  the  river  on  foot,  for  the  purpose  of  finding  a  better  place  to 
cross.  In  his  absence,  the  Indians,  instigated  by  one  of  the  savage- 
looking  chiefs  whom  we  saw  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  rushed  upon 
the  party  with  their  muskets  [the  same  furnished  by  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  for  that  purpose],  bows  and  arrows,  tomahawks,  and  scalp- 
ing-knives,  and  commenced  the  work  of  death."  Just  as  they  were 
expected  to  do  with  all  intruders  in  this  fur  traders'  empire.  "  From 
the  apparent  kindness  of  the  Indians  previously,  the  party  had  been 
thrown  entirely  off  their  guard,  and  consequently  were  immediately 
overpowered  by  their  ferocious  enemies,  and  but  one  of  the  twelve  in 
camp  escaped  from  the  cruel  massacre.  Scarcely  knowing  which  way 
he  fled,  this  one  fell  in  with  Smith,  who  was  on  his  return  to  the  camp, 
and  who  received  from  the  survivor  the  shocking  account  of  the  mur 
der  of  eleven  of  his  comrades.  Smith  seeing  all  was  lost,  resolved 
upon  attempting  nothing  further  than  to  do  his  best  to  secure  his  own 
personal  safety,  with  that  of  his  surviving  companions.  The  Indians 
had  secured  all  the  furs,  horses,  mules,  baggage,  and  every  thing  the 
company  had.  The  three  immediately  crossed  the  river  and  made  the 
best  of  their  way  through  a  savage  and  inhospitable  country  toward 
Vancouver,  where,  after  traveling  between  two  and  three  hundred 
miles,  and  suffering  the  greatest  deprivations,  they  finally  arrived  in 
safety." 

Rev.  Mr.  Hines'  savage-looking  chief  was  no  less  a  personage  than  a 
slave  of  a  Frenchman  by  the  name  of  Michel,  or  rather  belonging  to 
Michel's  Umpqua  wife.  This  slave  had  learned,  from  the  statements 
and  talk  he  had  heard  at  Vancouver,  that  in  case  the  Indians  killed 
and  robbed  the  Boston  men,  there  would  be  no  harm  to  them ;  that 
neither  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  nor  the  English  or  French  would 
take  any  notice  of  it.  Hence,  the  Indians  were  taught  to  regard  the 
killing  of  a  Boston  man  (American)  as  doing  something  that  pleased 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Under  this  instruction  it  is  said  this 
slave  ran  away  from  Vancouver,  and  went  back  to  his  people,  and 
was  the  cause  of  the  massacre  of  Smith's  party.  He  is  again  pre 
sent,  doing  all  he  can  to  induce  his  people  to  rob  and  take  the  lives  of 
Lee  and  Hines.  Mr.  Guinea,  then  in  charge  of  the  fort,  is  aware  of 


208  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

his  instructions  and  his  object.  He  dare  not  tell  Lee  and  Hines  of 
their  full  danger,  yet  he  knows  all  about  it. 

They  were  determined  to  visit  the  Indians  and  see  for  themselves. 
Guinea's  Indian  wife  and  her  brother  must  go  with  them.  This  is  con 
sidered  sufficient  protection.  The  story  of  the  Indian  slave's  part  in 
the  massacre  of  Smith's  party  is  related  to  us  by  Mrs.  Smith,  the  wife 
of  S.  II.  Smith,  an  intelligent  and  much  respected  native  woman,  a 
neighbor  of  ours  for  near  twenty  years,  and  by  one  of  the  men  that 
accompanied  McKay  to  recover  the  property ;  corresponding  exactly 
to  another  event  of  the  same  kind  that  occurred  in  1847,  which  will  be 
given  in  detail  as  stated  by  eye-witnesses  under  the  solemnity  of  an 
oath. 

Mr.  Hines,  of  course,  believes  the  following  statement,  because  the 
gentlemen  of  the  company  told  it  to  him ;  just  as  I  did  the  first  time  I 
heard  it  from  them.  It  is  said,  Smith  and  companions,  "  rehearsing  the 
story  of  their  wonderful  escape  and  subsequent  sufferings  to  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  the  utmost  sympathy  was  excited 
in  their  behalf,  and  a  strong  party  was  fitted  out  to  go  and  rescue  the 
property  from  the  savage  robbers,  and  restore  it  to  its  surviving 
owners.  The  vigor  and  perseverance  of  this  party  were  equal  to  the 
promptitude  with  which  it  was  fitted  out.  They  proceeded  to  the 
scene  of  blood,  and  after  committing  the  mangled  bodies  of  Smith's 
murdered  companions  to  the  grave,  compelled  the  Indians  to 
relinquish  the  property  they  had  taken,"  by  giving  them  presents 
of  blankets  and  powder,  and  such  things  as  the  Indians  wished,  as 
stated  to  us  by  a  Frenchman,  a  servant  of  the  company,  who  was 
one  of  McKay's  party  that  went  to  get  the  furs.  They  found  no 
bodies  to  bury,  and  had  no  fight  with  the  Indians  about  the  property, 
as  stated  by  Mr.  Smith  also.  But,  as  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  tells 
the  story  through  Mr.  Hines,  they  "spread  terror  through  the  tribes" 
Was  this  the  case  in  the  Whitman  massacre  in  1847?  the  Samilkamean 
massacre  in  1857?  the  Frazer  River  murder  of  American  citizens  in 
1858  ?  No:  Governor  Douglas  told  the  committee  that  asked  him 
for  protection,  or  for  arms,  to  protect  themselves ;  that  "  if  they  [the 
Americans]  molested  her  Majesty^s  subjects  he  would  send  a  force  to 
punish  them"  Mr.  Hines  says  his  Umpqua  party  "returned  in 
triumph  to  Vancouver"  And  well  they  might,  for  they  had  made  the 
best  season's  hunt  they  ever  made,  in  getting  those  furs  and  the  prop 
erty  of  Smith,  which  paid  them  well  for  the  expedition,  as  there  was 
no  market  for  Smith,  except  London,  through  the  hypocritical  kindness 
of  Mr.  Simpson.  By  this  time,  Mr.  Smith  had  learned  all  he  wished 
to  of  this  company.  He  preferred  giving  them  his  furs  at  their  own 


COMPENSATION    TO   INDIANS.  209 

price  to  being  under  any  further  obligations  to  them.  Mr.  Sublet,  Mr. 
Smith's  partner,  did  not  speak  as  though  he  felt  under  much  obligation 
to  Mr.  Simpson  or  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  1836,  which  was  not 
long  after  the  transaction  referred  to. 

I  do  not  know  how  the  company  regard  these  statements  of  Mr. 
Hines,  yet  I  regard  them  as  true  so  far  as  Mr.  Hines  is  concerned,  but 
utterly. false  as  regards  the  company.  As  old  Toupin  says  Mr.  Parker 
told  the  Indians,  "  It  is  their  fashion  "  of  taking  credit  to  themselves 
for  doing  all  they  could  against  the  Americans  occupying  the  country 
in  any  way. 

According  to  the  testimony  given  in  the  case  of  The  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  v.  United  States,  the  amount  of  furs  seized  by  the  company 
at  that  time  was  forty  packs,  worth  at  the  time  $1,000  each,  besides 
the  animals  and  equipments  belonging  to  the  party,  a  large  portion  of 
which  was  given  to  the  Indians,  to  compensate  them  for  their  services 
rendered  to  the  company,  in  destroying  Smith's  expedition  and  killing 
his  men,  corresponding  with  transactions  of  recent  date,  as  stated  in  an 
article  found  in  the  San  Francisco  Bulletin : — 

"HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY  AND  THE  INDIANS. — A  gentleman  from 
Victoria  gives' us  the  following  facts  concerning  the  Indian  outrages  on 
the  northern  coast,  and  their  allies,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company :  Cap 
tain  D.  Warren  said  to  M.  A.  Foster  and  William  McCurdy,  that,  on 
returning  to  Victoria  and  reporting  the  circumstances  of  the  attack  of 
the  Indians  upon  his  sloop,  Thornton,  to  the  first  lieutenant  of  the 
ship  Zealous,  he  was  the  next  day  arrested  and  put  under  $2,000  bonds. 
The  Sparrowhawk  was  to  leave  last  Wednesday,  but  had  not  yet  gone 
to  inquire  into  the  matter.  It  is  known  that  the  same  Indians  mur 
dered  Captain  Jack  Knight  and  partner  but  a  short  time  before. 
The  same  crowd  or  band  of  Indians  robbed  the  Nanaimo  packet. 
Since  thus  attacked,  Captain  Warren,  the  captain  of  the  Ocean  Queen, 
informed  them  that  a  friendly  Indian  chief  told  him  to  leave ;  the  In 
dians  were  hostile ;  they  \vere  preparing  for  war  with  the  neighboring 
tribes. 

"From  a  statement  found  in  the  Chronicle,  of  the  27th  of  June,  we 
learn  that  Captain  Mo  watt,  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  is  in  charge 
of  Fort  Rupert.  We  also  learn  that  Captain  Mowatt's  prejudices  and 
feelings  are  peculiarly  hostile  to  all  American  fur  traders,  and  not  any 
too  friendly  to  those  claiming  to  be  English.  The  facts  indicate  a 
strong  Hudson's  Bay  Company  Indian  war  influence  against  American 
or  other  traders  in  behalf  of  that  company.  It  is  evident  from  the  state 
ment  of  the  two  gentlemen  above  named  that  her  Majesty's  naval  officers 
are  inclined,  and  more  than  probably  instructed,  to  protect  the  Hud- 

14 


210  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

son's  Bay  Company's  people  in  encouraging  the  Indian  hostility  and 
murder  of  all  outside  venturers  upon  their  trading  localities,  as  they 
are  prompt  to  insinuate  and  affirm  that  the  whites  are  the  aggressors, 
and  to  arrest  them  for  punishment." 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  why  our  American  government  is  so 
tolerant  and  generous  to  a  foregn  monopoly  that  has  invariably  sought 
and  accomplished  the  destruction  of  its  fur  trade  on  its  western  bor 
ders,  and  used  its  entire  influence  against  American  institutions  and 
citizens;  not  hesitating  to  incite  the  Indians  to  the  most  inhuman  and 
brutal  murders. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Missionaries  leaving. — Hudson's  Bay  Company's  Gold  Exchange. — Population  in 
1842. — "Whitman  and  Lovejoy  start  for  the  States. — The  Red  River  emigra 
tion. — American  merchants. — Settlers  not  dependent  on  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany. — Milling  Company. — The  Oregon  Institute. — Dr.  Elijah  White. — Proceed 
ings  and  resolutions  of  a  public  meeting  at  Wallamet. — Correspondence  with  the 
War  Department. 

REV.  A.  B.  SMITH  and  wife,  Cornelius  Rogers,  and  W.  H.  Gray  and 
wife  had  left  the  mission  of  the  American  Board,  on  account  of  difficul 
ties  they  had  become  fully  satisfied  would  ultimately  destroy  the  mission 
or  drive  it  from  the  country.  Mr.  Spalding,  it  will  be  remembered, 
was  a  man  of  peculiar  temperament,  ambitious  and  selfish.  He  could 
not  endure  an  associate  of  superior  talent,  or  admit  himself  to  be  infe 
rior  in  understanding  the  native  language.  From  the  time  the  Jesuits 
arrived  (in  1838),  some  of  his  own  pet  Indians  had  turned  Catholics 
and  commenced  a  quarrel  with  him.  These  facts  seemed  to  annoy  and 
lead  him  to  adopt  a  course  opposed  by  Smith,  Gray,  and  Rogers.  Still 
he  found  it  pleased  the  Indians  as  a  whole,  and  was  assented  to  by  the 
balance  of  the  mission.  Smith  and  wife  left  for  the  Sandwich  Islands ; 
Rogers  for  the  Wallamet  in  1841 ;  Gray  and  wife  in  1842. 

During  the  exploration  of  the  country  by  Commodore  Wilkes'  explor 
ing  squadron,  Mr.  Cornelius  Rogers  was  found  a  very  useful  man.  His 
knowledge  of  Indian  languages  (which  he  was  remarkably  quick  to 
acquire)  and  of  Indian  character  generally  enabled  him  to  become  a 
reliable  and  useful  interpreter.  The  officers  soon  became  aware  of  the 
fact,  and  employed  him  at  once  to  assist  and  interpret  for  them.  He 
was  paid  for  his  services  in  gold  coin,  which  amounted  to  something 
over  five  hundred  dollars.  Not  wishing  to  carry  his  coin  about,  he 
offered  to  deposit  it  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  "  Certainly, 
Mr.  Rogers,  we  will  receive  your  coin,  and  credit  you  upon  our  books 
twenty  per  cent,  less,  as  the  coin  is  not  so  valuable  to  us  as  our  goods, 
at  beaver  prices."  Mr.  R.  allowed  them  to  take  his  coin  and  credit 
him  with  four  hundred  dollars  in  beaver  currency.  In  a  short  time  a 
party  of  the  squadron  were  to  go  by  land  to  California.  Mr.  R.  con 
cluded  he  would  go  with  them,  and  that  his  coin  would  be  more  con 
venient  than  beaver  orders  on  the  company.  He  therefore  requested 
them  to  return  to  him  the  coin.  "  Certainly,  Mr.  Rogers,"  and  handed 


212  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

him  back  four  hundred  dollars  less  twenty  per  cent., — three  hundred  and 
twenty  dollars.  "  How  is  this?"  says  Mr.  It. ;  "  I  supposed  from  the  state 
ment  you  made  on  depositing  this  money  with  you,  that  that  money 
was  a  drug  to  you,  and  now  you  wish  me  to  pay  you  twenty  per  cent,  for 
money  I  have  left  in  your  care,  after  deducting  twenty  per  cent,  for 
leaving  it  with  you.  You  may  consider  this  a  fair  and  an  honorable 
transaction;  I  do  not."  Pie  was  told,  "  Such  is  our  manner  of  doing 
business"  and  that  was  all  the  satisfaction  he  could  get.  He  finally 
left  his  money  and  drew  his  goods,  at  what  was  called  beaver  prices, 
of  the  company. 

Nothing  further  of  note  occurred  in  1841,  except  the  loss  of  the  Pea 
cock,  in  which  no  lives  were  lost,  and  the  extra  efforts  of  the  company 
to  show  to  the  officers  of  the  expedition  their  good  deeds  and  kind  treat 
ment  to  all  Americans,  and  to  prove  to  them  that  the  whole  country 
was  of  little  value  to  any  one.  "  It  would  scarcely  support  the  few 
Indians,  much  less  a  large  population  of  settlers." 

1842. — Our  population,  all  told,  in  the  beginning  of  this  year,  is  twen 
ty-one  Protestant  ministers,  three  Roman  or  Jesuit  priests,  fifteen  lay 
members  of  churches,  thirty-four  white  women,  thirty-two  white  chil 
dren,  and  thirty-five  American  settlers — twenty-five  of  them  with  native 
wives.  Total,  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  Americans.  At  the  close 
of  the  year  we  had  an  emigration  from  the  States  of  one  hundred  and 
eleven  persons, — some  forty-two  families, — with  two  lawyers,  A.  L. 
Lovejoy  and  A.  M.  Hastings.  The  latter  became  the  lawyer  of  Dr. 
McLaughlin,  and  relieved  the  settlement  in  the  spring  of  1843  of  a  num 
ber  of  not  very  valuable  settlers,  by  assisting  them  to  get  credit  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  procuring  their  outfits,  giving  their  notes, 
payable  in  California ;  while  settlers  who  remained  could  get  no  credit 
or  supplies  of  the  company,  especially  such  as  had  asked  protection  of 
the  American  government.  A.  L.  Lovejoy  started  from  Whitman's 
station  to  return  to  the  States  with  Dr.  Whitman.  He  reached  Bent's 
Fort  with  him,  but  stopped  for  the  winter,  while  Whitman  proceeded 
on  to  Washington  in  time  to  'save  the  country  from  being  given  up  to 
British  rule.  For  an  account  of  that  trip,  which  we  give  in  another 
chapter,  we  are  indebted  to  the  Honorable  A.  L.  Lovejoy. 

The  Red  River  emigration,  consisting  of  some  forty  families  of  Eng 
lish,  Scotch,  and  Canadian-French  half-breeds,  had  been  ordered  from 
the  Red  River,  or  Selkirk  settlement,  to  locate  in  the  Pnget  Sound  dis 
trict,  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  governor,  Simpson.  This  com 
pany  started  across  the  plains  with  most  of  their  property  and  families 
in  carts,  in  the  spring  of  1842,  directed,  protected,  and  guided  by  the 
company,  and  expected  to  become  settlers,  subject  to  it,  in  Puget 


RED   RIVER   SETTLERS.  213 

Sound.  This  was  in  fact  a  part  of  the  original  plan  of  the  Puget  Sound 
Agricultural  Company,  and  these  families  were  brought  on  to  aid  in 
securing  and  holding  the  country  for  the  British  government  and  the 
use  of  the  company, — a  plan  and  arrangement  exactly  similar  to  that 
adopted  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  1811-12,  to  cut  off  the  trade 
of  the  French  Northwest  Fur  Company,  by  establishing  the  Selkirk 
settlement  directly  in  the  line  of  their  trade. 

This  Red  River  colony  was  a  part  of  the  company's  scheme  to  con 
trol  and  outnumber  the  American  settlement  of  Oregon ;  it  being  con 
nected  with  the  Puget  Sound  concern,  and  under  the  control  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company, — which,  by  the  decision  of  the  commissioners, 
has  won  the  company  $200,000  from  our  national  treasury.  A  more 
infamous  claim  could  not  well  be  trumped  up,  and  the  men  who 
awarded  it  should  be  held  responsible,  and  handed  down  to  posterity 
as  unjust  rewarders  of  unscrupulous  monopolies.  Not  for  this  alone, 
but  for  paying  to  the  parent  monopoly  the  sum  of  $450,000,  for  their 
malicious  misrepresentations  of  the  country,  their  murders,  and  their 
perjury  respecting  their  claims  to  it. 

As  soon  as  the  Red  River  colony  reached  the  country,  they  found 
that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  on  the  west  side  of  the  Rocky  Moun 
tains  was  a  different  institution  from  that  of  the  Selkirk  settlement ; 
consequently  a  large  number  of  the  more  intelligent  among  them  re 
fused  to  remain  in  the  Puget  Sound  district,  and  found  their  way  into 
the  Wallaruet  and  Tualatin  districts,  and  were  received  and  treated  as 
Oregonians,  or  citizens  of  the  provisional  government.  This  had  the 
effect  to  embitter  the  feelings  of  the  ruling  spirits  of  the  company,  and 
caused  them  to  change  their  policy.  They  commenced  fortifying  Fort 
Vancouver,  and  had  a  war-ship,  the  Modeste,  stationed  in  the  Columbia 
River,  while  the  fort  was  being  prepared  for  defensive  or  offensive 
measures.  This  only  increased  the  anxiety  and  hastened  the  effort  to 
organize  for  self-defense  on  the  part  of  the  American  settlers. 

In  the  mean  time,  Hon.  Caleb  Cashing,  of  Newburyport,  Massachu 
setts,  had  sent  to  the  country  a  ship  with  supplies.  A.  E.  Wilson  had 
established  himself,  or  was  about  to,  at  Wallamet  Falls  as  a  trader, 
and  some  families  were  on  their  way  by  water  from  the  States, — F.  W. 
Pettygrove,  Peter  Foster,  and  Peter  H.  Hatch.  Pettygrove  arrived 
with  a  small  stock  of  goods.  The  same  ship  brought  a  supply  for  the 
Methodist  Mission. 

The  settlers  were  not  dependent  upon  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
for  supplies  as  much  as  has  been  asserted.  I  am  certain  that  many  of 
them  never  received  a  dollar's  worth  of  the  company's  goods,  except  it 
might  have  been  through  the  stores  of  Pettygrove,  Wilson,  or  Aberne- 


214  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

thy.  I  know  many  of  them  were  willing  and  did  pay  higher  prices  to 
their  American  merchants  than  they  could  get  the  same  article  for  from 
the  company's  store,  which  was  about  this  time  established  at  Oregon 
City.  Soon  after,  a  trading-post  and  warehouse  were  established  at 
Champoeg,  and  Mr.  Roberts  sent  up  with  orders  to  kick,  change,  and 
beat  the  half-bushel  with  a  club  in  order  to  get  more  wheat  at  sixty 
cents  per  imperial  bushel  in  payment  for  all  debts  due  the  company 
for  the  goods  furnished  to  them  at  one  hundred  per  cent,  or  more  on 
London  prices. 

During  this  year  the  Wallamet  Milling  Company  was  formed,  and 
commenced  to  build  a  saw-mill  on  the  island  above  the  falls.  Dr.  Mc- 
Laughlin  also  commenced  active  opposition  to  American  enterprise. 

The  Oregon  Institute  was  commenced  this  year,  under  the  direction 
of  the  Methodist  missionaries.  They  carefully  guarded  against  all  out 
side  patronage  or  influence  getting  control  of  their  institution,  by  re 
quiring  a  certain  number  of  trustees  to  be  members  of  their  church  in 
good  standing.  It  was  during  the  discussions  in  the  organizing  of 
that  institution  that  the  disposition  on  the  part  of  that  mission  to  con 
trol  not  only  the  religious,  but  literary  and  political  interests  of  the 
settlement,  was  manifested.  The  leading  members  took  strong  ground, 
yet  hesitated  when  it  was  found  they  would  be  compelled  to  ask  for 
outside  patronage.  However,  they  were  able  to  commence  operations 
with  the  Institute,  and  succeeded  in  getting  up  a  building  deemed 
suitable  by  the  building  committee. 

Dr.  Elijah  "White  returned  to  the  country,  as  he  supposed  and  fre 
quently  asserted,  with  unlimited  discretionary  powers  from  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  to  arrange  all  matters  between  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  Indians,  and  settlers,  and  "  although  his  commission 
did  not  specify  in  so  many  words,  yet,  in  short,  he  was  the  governing 
power  of  the  United  States  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains."  He  entered 
at  once  upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  and  such  a  muss  as  he  kicked  up 
all  over  the  country  it  would  require  the  pens  of  a  Squibob  and  a  Junius 
combined  to  describe.  Rev.  Mr.  Hines  has  given  to  the  world  many 
useful  notices  of  this  notorious  blockhead,  and  from  his  descriptions  of 
his  proceedings  one  would  infer  that  he  was  a  most  important  character 
in  promoting  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  settlement  and  keeping  the 
Indians  quiet.  I  have  always  been  at  a  loss  to  understand  Mr.  Hines, 
whether  he  is  speaking  of  Dr.  White's  proceedings  in  sober  earnest  or 
serious  burlesque.  Either  he  was  woefully  ignorant  of  the  character 
of  Dr.  White,  or  he  was  cajoled  and  flattered  and  made  to  believe  the 
doctor  possessed  power  and  influence  at  Washington  that  no  document 
he  could  show  gave  any  evidence  of.  Be  that  as  it  may,  Dr.  White 


MEETING  TO   RECEIVE   DR.  WHITE.  215 

arrived  in  the  fall  of  1842,  in  advance  of  the  emigration.  Pie  pretended 
to  have  all  power  necessary  for  all  cases,  civil  and  criminal.  He 
appointed  temporary  magistrates  to  try  all  cases  as  they  might  occur; 
and  such  as  related  to  Indians  and  whites,  or  half-breeds  and  whites, 
he  tried  himself,  and  gave  decisions  to  suit  his  own  ideas  of  justice. 
Usually,  in  the  case  of  two  settlers,  where  he  had  appointed  a  justice  to 
try  the  case,  he  would  argue  the  case  for  one  of  the  parties,  and  generally 
win  it  for  his  client  or  favorite.  We  attended  two  of  the  doctor's  trials, 
one  in  Tualatin  Plains,  the  other  at  the  saw-mill  near  Salem.  In  both 
of  these  cases  the  conclusion  of  those  not  interested  was,  that  if  such 
was  the  justice  to  which  we  as  settlers  were  reduced,  our  own  energy 
and  arms  must  protect  us. 

At  the  meeting  called  to  receive  him,  a  committee,  being  appointed, 
retired,  and,  after  a  short  absence,  reported  the  following  resolutions  : — 

Resolved,  That  we,  the  citizens  of  the  Wallamet  Valley,  are  exceed 
ingly  happy  in  the  consideration  that  the  government  of  the  United 
States  have  manifested  their  intentions  through  their  agent,  Dr.  E. 
White,  of  extending  their  jurisdiction  and  protection  over  this  country. 

Resolved,  That,  in  view  of  the  claims  which  the  aborigines  of  this 
country  have  upon  the  sympathies  of  the  white  man,  we  are  gratified 
at  the  appointment  of  an  agent  by  the  United  States  government  to 
regulate  and  guard  their  interests. 

Resolved,  That  we  highly  approve  of  the  appointment  of  Dr.  E.  White 
to  the  above  office,  and  that  we  will  cordially  co-operate  with  him  in 
carrying  out  the  measures  of  government  in  reference  to  this  country. 

Resolved,  That  we  feel  grateful  to  the  United  States  government  for 
their  intended  liberality  toward  the  settlers  of  this  country,  and  for 
their  intention  to  support  education  and  literature  among  us. 

Resolved,  That  it  will  give  us  the  highest  pleasure  to  be  brought,  so 
soon  as  it  may  be  practicable,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  our  mother 
country. 

On  motion,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  report  of  the  committee  be  adopted. 

Resolved  unanimously,  That  the  doings  of  this  meeting  be  trans 
mitted  to  the  government  of  the  United  States  by  Dr.  E.  White,  in 
order  that  our  views  and  wishes  in  relation  to  this  country  may  be 
known. 

The  following  communication  shows  the  shrewdness  of  Dr.  White, 
and  the  influence  he  was  enabled  to  hold  over  Mr.  Bines,  who  seems  to 
have  ignored  all  the  doctor's  conduct  while  a  missionary,  and  considers 
him  a  suitable  person  to  deal  with  the  complicated  relations  then  cul 
minating  on  our  western  coast.  It  is  given  entire,  to  place  Mr.  Hines 


216  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

in  his  true  character  in  the  history  of  the  country,  though  Dr.  White 
does  not  deign  to  mention  his  name  in  his  report  to  the  department. 
We  also  give  an  extract  from  the  report  of  the  Commissioners  of  Indian 
Affairs,  November  28,  1843,  as  found  on  fifth  and  sixth  pages  of  Dr. 
White's  report.  Mr.  Hines'  letter  is  as  follows : — 

WALLAMET,  April  3,  1843. 
To  the  Honorable  Secretary  of  IVar: 

SIR, — I  have  the  honor  of  addressing  you  a  brief  communication 
expressive  of  my  views  of  the  course  pursued  by  Dr.  E.  White,  sub- 
agent  of  Indian  Affairs  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

I  am  not  extensively  acquainted  with  what  properly  belongs  to  the 
business  of  an  Indian  agent,  but  so  far  as  I  understand  the  subject,  this 
agency  requires  the  performance  of  duties  which  are  of  an  onerous  and 
complicated  character. 

The  country  is  quite  extensive,  and  an  intercourse  is  carried  on 
between  the  whites  and  Indians  in  almost  every  part  of  it.  The  prin 
cipal  settlements  are  on  the  Wsillamet  River  and  Tualatine  Plains,  but 
there  are  whites  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  the  Falls,  and 
among  the  Wallawalla,  Cayuse,  Nez  Perce,  and  Snake  Indians.  Im 
mediately  after  the  arrival  of  your  agent  in  this  country,  he  received 
the  most  urgent  calls  from  several  of  these  places,  if  possible  to  come 
immediately  and  enter  into  such  measures  as  would  secure  both  the 
safety  of  the  whites  and  welfare  of  the  Indians. 

He  entered  upon  his  business  with  diffidence,  though  with  great 
energy  and  decision,  and  his  indefatigable  efforts  to  promote  the  inter 
ests  of  this  country,  with  his  untiring  industry  in  the  performance  of 
his  duties,  entitle  him  to  the  warmest  respect  of  the  members  of  this 
infant  and  helpless  colony,  and  to  the  confidence  of  the  honorable 
department  which  has  committed  to  him  so  important  a  trust.  Although 
he  has  been  with  us  but  a  short  time  in  his  official  capacity,  yet  it  is 
generally  be'icved  that  the  measures  he  has  adopted  to  regulate  the 
intercourse  between  the  whites  and  Indians,  particularly  in  the  Cayuse, 
Nez  Perce,  and  Wallawalla  tribes,  are  wisely  calculated  to  secure  the 
protection  of  the  former  against  the  aggressions  of  the  savages,  and  to 
secure  to  the  latter  the  blessings  of  harmony,  peace,  and  civilization. 

Some  time  in  November  last  news  reached  us  from  these  formidable 
tribes  that  they  were  laying  a  plot  for  the  destruction  of  this  colony, 
upon  which  your  agent,  with  characteristic  decision,  determined  to  pro 
ceed  at  once  to  the  scene  of  this  conspiracy,  and,  if  possible,  not  only  to 
frustrate  the  present  designs  of  the  Indians,  but  to  prevent  any  future 
attempts  of  the  same  character. 


REV.   MR.    HIXES'   LETTER.  217 

This  laborious  journey  was  undertaken,  and,  accordingly,  he  set  out 
on  this  perilous  enterprise  in  the  dead  of  winter,  being  accompanied  by 
six  men,  and  though  the  distance  to  be  traveled  by  land  and  water  was 
little  less  than  one  thousand  miles,  and  the  whole  journey  was  one  of 
excessive  labor  and  much  suffering,  yet  perseverance  surmounted  every 
difficulty,  and  the  undertaking  was  brought  to  a  most  happy  issue.  In 
the  fitting  out  and  execution  of  such  an  expedition  much  expense  must 
necessarily  be  incurred,  but  I  am  fully  of  the  opinion  the  funds  appro 
priated  by  your  agent,  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  the  object  of 
his  appointment,  have  been  judiciously  applied. 

Not  knowing  the  views  I  entertained  in  reference  to  the  propriety 
of  his  course,  Dr.  White  requested  me  to  write  to  the  honorable 
Secretary  of  War,  definitely  expressing  my  opinion.  Considering  this 
a  sufficient  apology  for  intruding  myself  upon  your  patience  in  this 
communication,  allow  me,  dear  sir,  to  subscribe  myself  most  respect 
fully,  Your  humble  servant, 

GUSTAYUS  HlNES, 

Missionary  to  the  Wallamet  Settlement. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  WAR,  ) 

OFFICE  OF  INDIAN  AFFAIRS,  Nov.  28,  1843.  j 

I  submit  a  report  from  the  sub-agent  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
received  on  the  9th  of  August  last.  It  furnishes  some  deeply-interest 
ing  and  curious  details  respecting  certain  of  the  Indian  tribes  in  that 
remote  part  of  our  Territories.  The  Nez  Perces  are  represented  to  be 
"more  noble,  industrious,  sensible,  and  better  disposed  toward  the 
whites,"  than  the  others.  Their  conduct  on  the  occasion  of  an  import 
ant  meeting  between  Dr.  White  and  their  leading  men  impresses  one 
most  agreeably.  The  school  established  for  their  benefit  is  very 
numerously  attended,  while  it  is  gratifying  to  learn  that  this  is  not  the 
only  establishment  for  Indian  instruction  which  has  been  made  and 
conducted  with  success. 

There  will  also  be  found  in  this  paper  some  particulars  as  to  the  soil, 
water-courses,  etc.,  of  the  Territory  of  Oregon,  which  may  be  interest 
ing  at  this  time,  when  public  attention  is  so  much  directed  to  the 
region  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

T.  HARTLEY  CRAWFORD. 

Hon.  J.  M.  PORTER,  Secretary  of  War. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

Dispatch  of  Dr.  White  to  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs. — He  praises  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company. — His  account  of  the  Indians. — Indian  outrages. — Dr.  "White's  expe 
dition  to  the  N"ez  Perces. — Indian  council. — Speeches. — Electing  a  chief. — Laws  of 
the  Nez  Perces. — Visit  to  the  Cayuses. — Doings  of  the  missionaries. — Drowning 
of  Mr.  Rogers  and  family. — George  G-eere. — Yolcanoes. — Petition  against  Governor 
McLaughlin. 

OKEGON,  April  1,  1843. 

SIB, — On  my  arrival,  I  had  the  honor  and  happiness  of  addressing 
you  a  brief  communication,  giving  information  of  my  safe  arrival,  and 
that  of  our  numerous  party,  to  these  distant  shores. 

At  that  time  it  was  confidently  expected  that  a  more  direct,  certain, 
and  expeditious  method  would  be  presented  to  address  you  in  a  few 
weeks  ;  but  that  failing,  none  has  offered  till  now. 

I  think  I  mentioned  the  kind  and  hospitable  manner  we  were  received 
and  entertained  on  the  way  by  the  gentlemen  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  and  the  cordial  and  most  handsome  reception  I  met  with  at 
Fort  Vancouver  from  Governor  McLaughlin  and  his  worthy  associate 
chief  factor,  James  Douglas,  Esq. ;  my  appointment  giving  pleasure 
rather  than  pain, — a  satisfactory  assurance  that  these  worthy  gentle 
men  intend  eventually  to  settle  in  this  country,  and  prefer  American 
to  English  jurisdiction. 

On  my  arrival  in  the  colony,  sixty  miles  south  of  Vancouver,  being 
in  advance  of  the  party,  and  coming  unexpectedly  to  the  citizens, 
bearing  the  intelligence  of  the  arrival  of  so  large  a  re-enforcement,  and 
giving  assurance  of  the  good  intentions  of  our  government,  the  excite 
ment  was  general,  and  two  days  after  we  had  the  largest  and  happiest 
public  meeting  ever  convened  in  this  infant  colony. 

I  found  the  colony  in  peace  and  health,  and  rapidly  increasing  in 
numbers,  having  more  than  doubled  in  population  during  the  last  two 
years.  English,  French,  and  half-breeds  seem,  equally  with  our  own 
people,  attached  to  the  American  cause ;  hence  the  bill  of  Mr.  Linn, 
proffering  a  section  of  land  to  every  white  man  of  the  Territory,  has  the 
double  advantage  of  being  popular  and  useful,  increasing  such  attach 
ment,  and  manifestly  acting  as  a  strong  incentive  to  all,  of  whatever 
nation  or  party,  to  settle  in  this  country. 

My  arrival  was  in  good  time,  and  probably  saved  much  evil.     I  had 


THREE  INDIAN   TRIBES.  219 

but  a  short  season  of  rest  after  so  long,  tedious,  and  toilsome  a  journey, 
before  information  reached  me  of  the  very  improper  conduct  of  the 
upper  country  Indians  toward  the  missionaries  sent  by  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners,  accompanied  with  a  passport,  and  a  desire  for 
my  interposition  in  their  behalf  at  once. 

I  allude  to  the  only  three  tribes  from  which  much  is'  to  be  hoped,  or 
any  thing  to  be  feared,  in  this  part  of  Oregon.  These  are  the  Wal- 
lawallas,  Cayuses,  and  Nez  Perces,  inhabiting  a  district  of  country  on 
the  Columbia  and  its  tributaries,  commencing  two  hundred  and  forty 
miles  from  its  mouthj  and  stretching  four  hundred  and  eighty  miles 
into  the  interior.  The  Wallawallas,  most  contiguous  to  the  colony, 
number  some  three  thousand,  including  the  entire  population.  They 
are  in  general  poor,  indolent,  and  sordid,  but  avaricious ;  and  what  few 
have  property,  in  horses  and  herds,  are  proud,  haughty,  and  insolent. 
The  Cayuses,  next  easterly,  are  less  numerous,  but  more  formidable, 
being  brave,  active,  tempestuous,  and  warlike.  Their  country  is  well 
watered,  gently  undulating,  extremely  healthy,  and  admirably  adapted 
to  grazing,  as  Dr.  Marcus  Whitman,  who  resides  in  their  midst,  may 
have  informed  you.  They  are  comparatively  rich  in  herds,  independ 
ent  in  manner,  and  not  unfrequently  boisterous,  saucy,  and  troublesome 
in  language  and  behavior.  The  Nez  Perces,  still  further  in  the  inte 
rior,  number  something  less  than  three  thousand ;  they  inhabit  a  beau 
tiful  grazing  district  not  surpassed  by  any  I  have  seen  for  verdure, 
water  privileges,  climate,  or  health.  The  tribe  forms,  to  some  extent, 
an  honorable  exception  to  the  general  Indian  character,  being  more 
noble,  industrious,  sensible,  and  better  disposed  toward  the  whites  and 
their  improvements  in  the  arts  and  sciences ;  and,  though  as  brave  as 
Caesar,  the  whites  have  nothing  to  dread  at  their  hands,  in  case  of  their 
dealing  out  to  them  what  they  conceive  to  be  right  and  equitable.  Of 
late,  these  three  tribes  have  become  strongly  united  by  reason  of  much 
intermarriage.  For  the  last  twenty  years  they  have  been  generally 
well  disposed  toward  the  whites ;  but  at  the  time  Captain  Bonneville 
visited  this  district  of  country,  he  dealt  more  profusely  in  presents  and 
paid  a  higher  price  for  furs  than  Mr.  Pambrun,  one  of  the  traders  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  established  at  Wallawalla,  who  had  long  dealt 
with  them,  and  was  previously  a  general  favorite.  On  Mr.  Bonneville's 
leaving,  the  chiefs  assembled  at  the  fort,  and  insisted  on  a  change  of 
the  tariff  in  their  favor.  Pambrun  refusing,  they  seized  him,  stamped 
violently  upon  his  breast,  beat  him  severely,  and  retained  him  prisoner, 
in  rather  unenviable  circumstances,  till  they  gained,  to  a  considerable 
extent,  their  object.  Since  that  time,  they  have  been  more  consequen 
tial  in  feeling,  and  shown  less  deference  and  respect  to  the  whites.  On 


220  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

the  arrival  of  missionaries  among  them  they  have  never  failed  to  make, 
at  first,  a  most  favorable  impression,  which  has,  in  most  instances,  un 
fortunately,  led  to  too  near  an  approach  to  familiarity,  operating  alike 
prejudicial  to  both  parties.  The  Rev.  Messrs.  Lee  and  Parker,  who 
made  each  but  a  short  stay  among  them,  left  with  like  favorable  im 
pressions.  Their  successors,  Spalding,  Whitman,  Gray,  and  ladies, 
with  others  who  remained  among  them,  were  at  last  driven  to  the  con 
clusion  that  Indians  as  much  resembled  each  other  in  character  as  com 
plexion.  These  worthy  people,  not  well  versed  in  Indian  character,  and 
anxious  to  accomplish  a  great  deal  in  a  short  time,  resorted  to  various 
expedients  to  induce  them  to  leave  oif  their  wandering  migratory  hab 
its,  and  settle  down  contiguous  to  them  in  herding  and  agricultural 
pursuits,  so  as  to  be  able  to  send  their  numerous  and  healthy  children 
to  school.  In  these  efforts  they  were  zealous  and  persevering,  holding 
out  various  inducements  as  so  many  stimulants  to  action,  most  of  which 
would  have  operated  well  in  civilized  life,  but  generally  failed  with 
these  Indians ;  and  whatever  was  promised  conditionally,  whether  the 
condition  was  met  or  otherwise,  there  was  no  reprieve — the  promised 
articles  must  come ;  and  sometimes,  under  circumstances  sufficiently 
trying,  had  these  missionaries  been  less  devoted,  they  would  have 
driven  them  from  their  post  forever. 

The  Indians,  having  gained  one  and  another  victory,  became  more 
and  more  insolent,  till  at  last,  some  time  previous  to  my  arrival,  they 
were  not  only  obtrusive  and  exceedingly  annoying  about  and  in  the 
missionaries'  houses,  but  seized  one  of  the  clergymen  in  his  own  house,* 
without  a  shadow  of  provocation,  further  than  that  of  treating  a  better 
neighboring  chief  with  more  respect  than  they,  and  insulted  him  most 
shamefully,  there  being  no  other  white  person  within  fifty  miles,  save 
his  sick  and  delicate  lady.  Soon  after,  they  commenced  on  Dr.  Whit 
man  ;  pulled  his  ears  and  hair,  and  threw  off  his  hat  three  times  in  the 
mud  at  his  feet.  A  short  time  after,  the  chiefs  assembled,  broke  into 
the  house,  violently  assailed  his  person  with  war  clubs,  and,  with  an  ax, 
broke  down  the  door  leading  to  his  own  private  apartment.  It  is  gen 
erally  thought,  and  possibly  with  truth,  that,  on  this  occasion,  Dr.  Whit 
man  would  have  been  killed,  had  not  a  party  of  white  men  arrived  in 
sight  just  at  this  moment.!  Never  was  such  an  outrage  and  insult  more 

*  Rev.  A.  B.  Smith,  who  employed  the  Lawyer  as  his  teacher  in  the  Nez  Perce  lan 
guage.  Ellis  was  the  chief  who  claimed  the  land,  and  had  been  at  the  Red  River 
school.  He  was  jealous  of  the  Lawyer's  influence  with  the  American  missionaries,  and 
used  his  influence  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  drive  Mr.  Smith  away. 

f  We  were  present  at  Dr.  Whitman's  at  the  time  here  referred  to,  and  know  that  this 
difficulty  originated  from  Jesuitical  teachings. 


DR.  WHITE'S   STATEMENTS.  221 

undeserving.  He  had  built,  for  the  express  purpose  of  Indian  accom 
modation,  a  house  .of  the  same  materials,  and  finished  in  like  manner 
with  his  own,  of  respectable  size,  and  joined  to  his,  and  at  all  times, 
night  and  day,  accessible.  In  addition  to  this,  they  were  admitted  to 
every  room  in  his  house  but  one.  This  being  closed,  had  like  to 
have  cost  him  his  life.  He  had  hardly  left  for  the  States  last  fall, 
when,  shocking  to  relate,  at  the  hour  of  midnight,  a  large  Indian  chief 
managed  to  get  into  the  house,  came  to  the  door  of  Mrs.  Whitman's 
bed-chamber,  and  had  succeeded  in  getting  it  partly  open  before  she 
reached  it.  A  white  man,  sleeping  in  an  adjoining  apartment,  saved 
her  from  violence  and  ruin.  The  villain  escaped.  There  was  but  one 
thing  wrong  in  this  matter  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Whitman,  and  that  was 
a  great  error, — leaving  his  excellent  lady  unprotected  in  the  midst  of 
savages.*  A  few  days  after  this  they  burned  down  the  mission  mill  on 
his  premises,  with  all  its  appendages  and  considerable  grain,  damaging 
them  not  less  than  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  dollars.  About  the  same 
time,  Mrs.  Spalding  was  grossly  insulted  in  her  own  house,  and  ordered 
out  of  it,  in  the  absence  of  her  husband.  Information  reached  him  of 
an  Indian  having  stolen  his  horse  near  the  same  time ;  he  hastened  to 
the  spot  to  secure  the  animal;  the  rogue  had  crossed  the  river;  but, 
immediately  returning,  he  presented  his  loaded  gun,  cocked,  at  the 
breast  of  Mr.  Spalding,  and  abused  and  menaced  as  far  as  possible  with 
out  shooting  him.f 

In  addition  to  this,  some  of  our  own  party  were  robbed  openly  of 
considerable  property,  and  some  twelve  horses  were  stolen  by  night. 
All  this  information,  coming  near  the  same  time,  was  embarrassing, 
especially  as  my  instructions  would  not  allow  me  to  exceed,  for  office, 
interpreter,  and  every  purpose,  $1,250  per  annum.  On  the  other  hand, 
their  passport,  signed  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  made  it  my  imperative 
duty  to  protect  them,  in  their  persons,  at  least,  from  outrage.  I  did  not 
long  hesitate,  but  called  upon  Thomas  McKay,  long  in  the  employment 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  as  explorer  and  leader  of  parties,  who, 
from  his  frank,  generous  disposition,  together  with  his  universal  success 
in  Indian  warfare,  has  obtained  an  extensive  influence  among  the  abo 
rigines  of  the  country,  and,  placing  the  facts  before  him,  he  at  once  con 
sented  to  accompany  me  to  this  scene  of  discord  and  contention.  We 
took  but  six  men  with  us,  armed  in  the  best  manner,  a  sufficent  number 
to  command  respect  and  secure  the  object  of  our  undertaking, — McKay 

*  There  were  good  men  left  at  the  station ;  besides,  the  influence  of  Mr.  McKinley 
was  thought  to  be  sufficient  protection  from  any  violence  from  the  Indians. 

f  This  transaction  is  represented  by  Rev.  Mr.  Brouillet  as  being  that  Mr.  Spalding 
threatened  the  Indian  with  a  gun, — being  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  Rev.  Mr.  Brouillet. 


222  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

assuring  me,  from  his  familiar  acquaintance  with  these  Indians,  and 
their  thorough  knowledge  of  the  use  of  arms,  that  if  hostile  intentions 
were  entertained,  it  would  require  a  larger  party  than  we  could  raise 
in  this  country  to  subdue  them.  Obtaining  Cornelius  Rogers  as  inter 
preter,  we  set  out  on  the  15th  of  November  on  our  voyage  of  misery  (as 
McKay  justly  denominated  it),  having  a  journey,  by  water  and  land, 
of  not  less  than  nine  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  principally  over  open 
plains,  covered  with  snow,  and  several  times  under  the  necessity  of 
spending  the  night  without  wood  or  fire,  other  than  what  was  made  by 
a  small  growth  of  wild  sage,  hardly  sufficient  to  boil  the  tea-kettle.  The 
gentlemen,  as  we  called  at  Vancouver,  did  every  thing  in  their  power  to 
make  the  journey  comfortable,  but  evidently  felt  anxious  concerning 
our  safety.  We  reached  the  Dalles,  some  two  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  from  the  Pacific,  on  the  24th,  having  been  detained  by  wind,  spent 
several  days  with  the  Methodist  Mission  families,  who  welcomed  us  joy 
fully,  and  made  our  stay  agreeable  and  refreshing.  Mrs.  Dr.  Whitman 
was  here,  having  found  it  improper  and  unsafe  to  remain  where  she  had 
been  so  lately  grossly  insulted.  Her  noble  and  intellectual  mind  and 
spirit  were  much  depressed,  and  her  health  suffering ;  but  still  enter 
taining  for  the  people  or  Indians  of  her  charge  the  feelings  of  a  mother 
toward  ungrateful  children.  Our  visit  encouraged  her.  We  procured 
horses  and  traveled  by  land  to  Wallawalla,  140  miles  above,  reaching 
the  Hudson's  Bay  establishment  on  the  30th.  Mr.  McKinley,  the  gen 
tleman  in  charge,  to  whom  the  missionaries  are  indebted  for  many  kind 
offices  in  this  isolated  portion  of  earth,  resolved  to  make  it  a  common 
cause,  and  stand  or  fall  with  us.  We  reached  Wailatpu,  the  station 
of  Dr.  Whitman,  the  day  following,  and  were  shocked  and  pained  at 
beholding  the  sad  work  of  savage  destruction  upon  this  hitherto  neat 
and  commodious  little  establishment.  The  Indians  in  the  vicinity  were 
few  and  shy.  I  thought  best  to  treat  them  with  reserve,  but  made  an 
appointment  to  meet  the  chiefs  and  tribe  on  my  return.  Left  the  day 
following  for  the  station  of  Mr.  Spalding  among  the  Nez  Perces,  some 
120  or  130  miles  from  Wailatpu ;  reached  it  on  the  3d  of  December, 
after  a  rather  pleasant  journey  over  a  most  verdant  and  delightful  graz 
ing  district,  well  watered,  but  badly  timbered.  Having  sent  a  private 
dispatch  in  advance,  they  had  conveyed  the  intelligence  to  the  Indians, 
many  of  whom  were  collected.  The  chiefs  met  us  with  civility,  gravity, 
and  dignified  reserve,  but  the  missionaries  with  joyful  countenances 
and  glad  hearts. 

Seldom  was  a  visit  of  an  Indian  agent  more  desired,  nor  could  one 
be  more  necessary  and  proper.  As  they  were  collecting,  we  had  no 
meeting  for  eight  and  forty  hours ;  in  the  mean  time,  through  my  able 


MR.   McKINLEY'S   SPEECH.  223 

interpreter  and  McKay,  I  managed  to  secure  confidence  and  prepare 
the  way  to  a  good  understanding ;  visited  and  prescribed  for  their 
sick,  made  a  short  call  at  each  of  the  chiefs'  lodges,  spent  a  season  in 
school,  hearing  them  read,  spell,  and  sing ;  at  the  same  time  examined 
their  printing  and  writing,  and  can  hardly  avoid  here  saying  I  was 
happily  surprised  and  greatly  interested  at  seeing  such  numbers  so  far 
advanced  and  so  eagerly  pursuing  after  knowledge.  The  next  day  I 
visited  their  little  plantations,  rude,  to  be  sure,  but  successfully  carried 
on,  so  far  as  raising  the  necessaries  of  life  were  concerned ;  and  it  was 
most  gratifying  to  witness  their  fondness  and  care  for  their  little  herds, 
pigs,  poultry,  etc. 

The  hour  arriving  for  the  public  interview,  I  was  ushered  into  the 
presence  of  the  assembled  chiefs,  to  the  number  of  twenty-two,  with 
some  lesser  dignitaries,  and  a  large  number  of  the  common  people. 
The  gravity,  fixed  attention,  and  decorum  of  these  sons  of  the  forest 
was  calculated  to  make  for  them  a  most  favorable  impression.  I  stated 
explicitly,  but  briefly  as  possible,  the  design  of  our  great  chief  in  send 
ing  me  to  this  country,  and  the  present  object  of  my  visit ;  assured 
them  of  the  kind  intentions  of  our  government,  and  of  the  sad  conse 
quences  that  would  ensue  to  any  white  man,  from  this  time,  who  should 
invade  their  rights,  by  stealing,  murder,  selling  them  damaged  for  good 
articles,  or  alcohol,  of  which  they  are  not  fond.  Without  threatening, 
I  gave  them  to  understand  how  highly  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spalding  were 
prized  by  the  numerous  whites,  and  with  what  pleasure  the  great  chief 
gave  them  a  paper  to  encourage  them  to  come  here  to  teach  them  what 
they  were  now  so  diligently  employed  in  obtaining,  in  order  that  they 
and  their  children  might  become  good,  wise,  and  happy. 

After  me,  Mr.  McKinley,  the  gentleman  in  charge  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  establishment  at  Wallawalla,  spoke  concisely,  but  very  properly ; 
alluded  to  his  residence  of  some  years,  and  of  the  good  understanding 
that  had  generally  existed  between  them,  and  of  the  happiness  he  felt 
that  one  of  his  brothers  had-  come  to  stand  and  judge  impartially  be 
tween  him,  them,  and  whites  and  Indians  in  general ;  declared  openly 
and  frankly,  that  Boston,  King  George,  and  French,  were  all  of  one 
heart  in  this  matter,  as  they,  the  Cayuses  and  Wallawallas  should  be ; 
flattered  them  delicately  in  view  of  their  (to  him)  unexpected  advance 
ment  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  resumed  his  seat,  having  made  a 
most  favorable  impression. 

Next  followed  Mr.  Rogers,  the  interpreter,  who,  years  before,  had 
been  employed  successfully  as  linguist  in  this  section  of  the  country 
by  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners,  and  was  ever  a  general 
favorite  with  this  people.  He  adverted,  sensibly  and  touchingly,  to 


22tt  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

past  difficulties  between  whites  and  Indians  east  of  the  mountains, 
and  the  sad  consequences  to  every  tribe  who  had  resisted  honorable 
measures  proposed  by  the  more  numerous  whites;  and  having,  as 
he  hoped,  secured  their  confidence  in  my  favor,  exhorted  them  feel 
ingly  to  adopt  such  measures  as  should  be  thought  proper  for  their 
benefit. 

Next,  and  lastly,  arose  Mr.  McKay,  and  remarked,  with  a  manner 
peculiar  to  himself,  and  evidently  with  some  emotion:  "I  appear 
among  you  as  one  arisen  from  the  long  sleep  of  death.  You  know  of 
the  violent  death  of  my  father  on  board  the  ship  Tonquin,  who  was 
one  of  the  partners  of  the  Astor  company;  I  was  but  a  youth  ;  since 
which  time,  till  the  last  five  years,  I  have  been  a  wanderer  through 
these  wilds,  none  of  you,  or  any  Indians  of  this  country,  having  traveled 
so  constantly  or  extensively  as  I  have,  and  yet  I  saw  you  or  your 
fathers  once  or  more  annually.  I  have  mingled  with  you  in  bloody 
wars  and  profound  peace;  I  have  stood  in  your  midst,  surrounded 
by  plenty,  and  suffered  with  you  in  seasons  of  scarcity ;  we  have  had 
our  days  of  wild  and  joyous  sports,  and  nights  of  watching  and  deep 
concern,  till  I  vanished  from  among  men,  left  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany,  silently  retired  to  my  plantation,  and  there  confined  myself. 
There  I  was  still,  silent,  and  as  one  dead  ;  the  voice  of  my  brother,  at 
last,  aroused  me  ;  I  spoke  and  looked  ;  I  mounted  my  horse — am  here. 
I  am  glad  it  is  so.  I  came  at  the  call  of  the  great  chief,  the  chief  of 
all  the  whites  in  the  country,  as  well  as  all  the  Indians — the  son  of 
the  mighty  chief  whose  children  are  more  numerous  than  the  stars 
in  the  heavens  or  the  leaves  in  the  forest.  Will  you  hear,  and  be 
advised  ?  You  will.  Your  wonderful  improvement  in  the  arts  and 
sciences  prove  you  are  no  fools.  Surely  you  will  hear ;  but  if  disposed 
to  close  your  ears  and  stop  them,  they  will  be  torn  open  wide,  and 
you  will  be  made  to  hear."  This  speech  from  Mr.  McKay,  whose 
mother  is  part  Indian,  though  the  wife  of  Governor  McLanghlin,  had 
a  singularly  happy  influence,  and  opened  the  way  for  expressions 
on  the  other  side,  from  which  there  had  not  hitherto  been  a  sentence 
uttered. 

First  arose  Five  Crows,  a  wealthy  chief  of  forty-five,  neatly  attired 
in  English  costume.  He  stepped  gravely  but  modestly  forward  to  the 
table,  remarking :  "  It  does  not  become  me  to  speak  first ;  I  am  but  a 
youth,  as  yet,  when  compared  with  many  of  these,  my  fathers;  but  my 
feelings  urge  me  to  arise  and  say  what  I  am  about  to  utter  in  a  very 
few  words.  I  am  glad  the  chief  has  come ;  I  have  listened  to  what 
has  been  said ;  have  'great  hopes  that  brighter  days  are  before  us, 
because  I  see  all  the  whites  united  in  this  matter ;  we  have  much 


SPEECH   OF  AN   OLD   CHIEF.  225 

wanted  something  ;  hardly  knew,  what ;  been  groping  and  feeling  for 
it  in  confusion  and  darkness.  Here  it  is.  Do  we  see  it,  and  shall  we 
accept  it  ?" 

Soon  the  Bloody  Chief  (not  less  than  ninety  years  oK'  »se,  and 
said:  "I  speak  to-day;  perhaps  to-morrow  I  die.  I  r  ue  oldest 
chief  of  the  tribe;  was  the  high  .chief  when  your  •  jti  brothers, 
Lewis  and  Clarke,  visited  this  country ;  they  visited  me,  and  honored 
me  with  their  friendship  and  counsel.  I  showed  them  my  numerous 
wounds  received  in  bloody  battle  with  the  Snakes ;  they  told  me  it 
was  not  good,  it  was  better  to  be  at  peace  ;  gave  me  a  flag  of  truce  ; 
I  held  it  up  high  ;  we  met  and  talked,  but  never  fought  a^ain.  Clarke 
pointed  to  this  day,  to  you,  and  this  occasion  ;  we  have  long  waited  in 
expectation  ;  sent  three  of  our  sons  to  Red  River  school  to  prepare 
for  it ;  two  of  them  sleep  with  their  fathers ;  the  other  is  here,  and 
can  be  ears,  mouth,  and  pen  for  us.  I  can  say  no  more;  I  am  quickly 
tired ;  my  voice  and  limbs  tremble.  I  am  glad  I  live  to  see  you  and 
this  day,  but  I  shall  soon  be  still  and  quiet  in  death." 

The  speech  was  aifecting.  Six  more  spoke,  and  the  meeting  ad 
journed  three  hours.  Met  at  the  hour  appointed.  All  the  chiefs  and 
principal  men  being  present,  stated  delicately  the  embarrassed  relation 
existing  between  whites  and  Indians  in  this  upper  country,  by  reason 
of  a  want  of  proper  organization,  or  the  chiefs'  authority  not  being 
properly  regarded ;  alluding  to  some  cases  of  improprieties  of  young 
men,  not  sanctioned  by  the  chiefs  and  old  men ;  and  where  the  chiefs 
had  been  in  the  wrong,  hoped  it  had  principally  arisen  from  imperfectly 
understanding  each  other's  language,  or  some  other  excusable  cause, 
especially  so  far  as  they  were  concerned.  Advised  them,  as  they  were 
now  to  some  extent  prepared,  to  choose  one  high  chief  of  the  tribe, 
and  acknowledge  him  as  such  by  universal  consent ;  all  the  other  sub 
ordinate  chiefs  being  of  equal  power,  and  so  many  helps  to  carry  out 
all  his  lawful  requirements,  which  they  were  at  once  to  have  in  writing, 
in  their  own  language,  to  regulate  their  intercourse  with  whites, 
and,  in  most  cases,  with  themselves.  I  advised  that  each  chief  have 
live  men  as  a  body-guard,  to  execute  all  their  lawful  commands.  They 
desired  to  hear  the  laws.  I  proposed  them  clause  by  clause,  leaving 
them  as  free  to  reject  as  to  accept.  They  wore  greatly  pleased  with 
all  proposed,  but  wished  a  heavier  penalty  to  some,  and  suggested  the 
dog  law,  which  was  annexed.  We  then  left  them  to  choose  the  high 
chief,  assuring  them  if  they  did  this  unanimously  by  the  following 
day  at  ten,  we  would  all  dine  together  with  the  chief,  on  a  fat  ox,  at 
three,  himself  and  myself  at  the  head  of  the  table  ;  this  pleased  them 
well,  and  they  set  about  it  in  good  cheer  and  high  hopes  ;  but  this  was 
15 


226  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

a  new  and  delicate  task,  and  they  soon  saw  and  felt  it ;  however,  all 
agreed  that  I  must  make  the  selection,  and  so  reported  two  hours 
after  we  left  the  council.  Assuring  them  this  would  not  answer,  that 
they  must  select  their  own  chief,  they  seemed  somewhat  puzzled, 
and  wished  to  know  if  it  would  be  proper  to  counsel  with  Messrs. 
McKay  and  Rogers.  On  telling  them  that  it  was  not  improper,  they 
left,  a  little  relieved,  and  worked  poor  Rogers  and  McKay  severely  for 
many  hours;  but  altogether  at  length  figured  it  out,  and  in  great 
good  humor,  so  reported  at  ten,  appointing  Ellis  high  chief.*  He  is 
the  one  alluded  to  by  the  Bloody  Chief,  a  sensible  man  of  thirty-two, 
reading,  speaking,  and  writing  the  English  language  tolerably  well;  has 
a  fine  small  plantation,  a  few  sheep,  some  neat  stock,  and  no  less  than 
eleven  hundred  head  of  horses.  Then  came  on  the  feasting ;  our  ox  was 
fat,  and  cooked  and  served  up  in  a  manner  reminding  me  of  the  days 
of  yore ;  we  ate  beef,  corn,  and  peas,  to  our  fill,  and  in  good  cheer  took 
the  pipe,  when  Rev.  Mr.  Spalding,  Messrs.  McKinley,  Rogers,  and 
McKay,  wished  a  song  from  our  boatmen ;  it  was  no  sooner  given  than 
returned  by  the  Indians,  and  repeated  again,  again,  and  again,  in  high 
cheer.  I  thought  it  a  good  time,  and  required  all  having  any  claim 
to  bring,  or  grievances  to  allege,  against  Mr.  Spalding,  to  meet  me 
and  the  high  chief  at  evening,  in  the  council-room,  and  requested  Mr. 
Spalding  to  do  the  same  on  the  part  of  the  Indians.  We  met  at  six, 
and  ended  at  eleven,  having  accomplished,  in  the  happiest  manner, 
much  anxious  business.  Being  too  well  fed  to  be  irritable  or  dis 
posed  to  quarrel,  both  parties  were  frank  and  open,  seeming  anxious 
only  to  learn  our  opinion  upon  plain  undisguised  matters  of  fact,  many 
of  the  difficulties  having  arisen  from  an  honest  difference  of  sentiment 
respecting  certain  measures. 

Ellis,  the  chief,  having  conducted  himself  throughout  in  a  manner 
creditable  to  his  head  and  heart,  was  quite  as  correct  in  his  conclusions 
and  firm  in  his  decisions  as  could  have  been  expected.  The  next  day  we 
had  our  last  meeting,  and  one  full  of  interest,  in  which  they  proposed 
to  me  many  grave  and  proper  questions ;  and,  as  it  was  manifestly 
desired,  I  advised  in  many  matters,  especially  in  reference  to  begging, 
or  even  receiving  presents  without,  in  some  way,  returning  an  equiva 
lent  ;  pointed  out  in  strong  language  who  beggars  are  among  the 
whites,  and  how  regarded ;  and  commended  them  for  not  once  troub 
ling  me,  during  my  stay,  with  this  disgusting  practice ;  and  as  a  token 
of  respect,  now,  at  the  close  of  our  long  and  happy  meeting,  they 
would  please  accept,  in  the  name  of  my  great  chief,  a  present  of  fifty 

*  He  had  been  educated  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  at  Red  River,  and  was 
strongly  attached  to  it. 


INDIANS   ORGANIZED.  227 

garden  hoes,  not  for  those  in  authority,  or  such  as  had  no  need  of  them, 
but  for  the  chiefs  and  Mr.  Spalding  to  distribute  among  their  indus 
trious  poor.  I  likewise,  as  they  were  very  needy,  proposed  and  ordered 
them  some  medicines,  to  be  distributed  as  they  should  from  time  to 
time  be  required.  This  being  done,  I  exhorted  them  to  be  in  obedience 
to  their  chiefs,  highly  approving  the  choice  they  had  made,  assuring 
them,  as  he  and  the  other  chiefs  were  responsible  to  me  for  their  good 
behavior,  I  should  feel  it  my  duty  to  see  them  sustained  in  all  lawful 
measures  to  promote  peace  and  order.  I  then  turned,  and  with  good 
effect  desired  all  the  chiefs  to  look  upon  the  congregation  as  their  own 
children,  and  then  pointed  to  Mr.  Spalding  and  lady,  and  told  the 
chiefs,  and  all  present,  to  look  upon  them  as  their  father  and  mother, 
and  treat  them  in  all  respects  as  such ;  and  should  they  happen  to 
differ  in  sentiment  respecting  any  matter  during  my  absence,  be  cau 
tious  riot  to  differ  in  feeling,  but  leave  it  till  I  should  again  return, 
when  the  chief  and  myself  would  rectify  it.  Thus  closed  this  mutually 
happy  and  interesting  meeting,  and  mounting  our  horses  for  home, 
Mr.  Spalding  and  the  chiefs  accompanied  us  for  some  four  or  live  miles, 
when  we  took  leave  of  them  in  the  pleasantest  manner,  not  a  single 
circumstance  having  occurred  to  mar  our  peace  or  shake  each  other's 
confidence. 

I  shall  here  introduce  a  note,  previously  prepared,  giving  some  fur 
ther  information  respecting  this  tribe,  and  appending  a  copy  of  their 
laws.  The  Nez  Perces  have  one  governor  or  principal  chief,  twelve 
subordinate  chiefs  of  equal  power,  being  the  heads  of  the  different  vil 
lages  or  clans,  with  their  five  officers  to  execute  all  their  lawful  orders, 
which  law  they  have  printed  in  their  own  language,  and  read  under- 
standingly.  The  chiefs  are  held  responsible  to  the  whites  for  the  good 
behavior  of  the  tribe.  They  are  a  happy  and  orderly  people,  forming 
an  honorable  exception  to  the  general  Indian  character,  being  more  in 
dustrious,  cleanly,  sensible,  dignified,  and  virtuous. 

This  organization  was  effected  last  fall,  and  operates  well,  and  with 
them,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  succeed.  A  few  days  since  Governor  Mc- 
Laughlin  favored  me  with  a  note  addressed  to  him  from  the  Rev.  H.  H. 
Spalding,  missionary  to  this  tribe,  stating  as  follows : — 

"  The  Indians  in  this  vicinity  are  remarkably  quiet  this  winter,  and 
are  highly  pleased  with  the  laws  recommended  by  Dr.  White,  which 
were  unanimously  adopted  by  the  chiefs  and  people  in  council  assem 
bled.  The  visit  of  Dr.  White  and  assistants  to  this  upper  country  will 
evidently  prove  an  incalculable  blessing  to  this  people.  The  school 
now  numbers  two  hundred  and  twenty-four  in  daily  attendance,  em 
bracing  most  of  the  chiefs  and  principal  men  of  the  nation." 


228  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Laws  of  the  JVez  Perces. 

ARTICLE  1.  Whoever  willfully  takes  life  shall  be  hung. 

ART.  2.  Whoever  burns  a  dwelling-house  shall  be  hung. 

ART.  3.  Whoever  burns  an  out-building  shall  be  imprisoned  six 
months,  receive  fifty  lashes,  and  pay  all  damages. 

ART.  4.  Whoever  carelessly  burns  a  house,  or  any  property,  shall  pay 
damages. 

ART.  5.  Tf  any  one  enter  a  dwelling,  without  permission  of  the  occu 
pant,  the  chiefs  shall  punish  him  as  they  think  proper.  Public  rooms 
are  exempted. 

ART.  6.  If  any  one  steal  he  shall  pay  back  twofold ;  and  if  it  be  the 
value  of  a  beaver  skin  or  less,  he  shall  receive  twenty-five  lashes ;  and 
if  the  value  is  over  a  beaver  skin  he  shall  pay  back  twofold,  and  receive 
fifty  lashes. 

ART.  7.  If  any  one  take  a  horse  and  ride  it,  without  permission,  or 
take  any  article  and  use  it,  without  liberty,  he  shall  pay  for  the  use  of 
Jt,  and  receive  from  twenty  to  fifty  lashes,  as  the  chief  shall  direct. 

ART.  8.  If  any  one  enter  a  field,  and  injure  the  crops,  or  throw  down 
the  fence,  so  that  cattle  or  horses  go  in  and  do  damage,  he  shall  pay  all 
damages,  and  receive  twenty-five  lashes  for  every  offense. 

ART.  9.  Those  only  may  keep  dogs  who  travel  or  live  among  the 
game;  if  a  dog  kill  a  lamb,  calf;  or  any  domestic  animal,  the  owner 
shall  pay  the  damages  and  kill  the  dog. 

ART.  10.  If  an  Indian  raise  a  gun  or  other  weapon  against  a  white 
man,  it  shall  be  reported  to  the  chiefs,  and  they  shall  punish  it.  If  a 
white  do  the  same  to  an  Indian,  it  shall  be  reported  to  Dr.  White,  and 
he  shall  punish  or  redress  it. 

ART.  11.  If  an  Indian  break  these  laws,  he  shall  be  punished  by  his 
chiefs ;  if  a  white  man  break  them,  he  shall  be  reported  to  the  agent, 
and  punished  at  his  instance. 

After  a  severe  journey  of  some  four  days,  through  the  inclemency  of 
the  weather,  we  reached  Wailatpu,  Dr.  Whitman's  station,  where  we 
had  many  most  unpleasant  matters  to  settle  with  the  Cayuse  tribe,  — 
such  as  personal  abuse  to  Dr.  Whitman  and  lady,  burning  the  mill,  etc. 
Several,  but  not  all,  of  the  chiefs  were  present.  Learning  what  the 
Nez  Perces  had  done  gave  them  great  concern  and  anxiety.  Tawatowe, 
the  high  chief,  and  Feather  Cap  were  there,  with  some  few  more  digni 
taries,  but  manifestly  uneasy,  being  shy  and  cautious.  I  thought  best 
under  the  circumstances  to  be  quiet,  distant,  and  reserved,  and  let  them 
commence  the  conversation  with  my  worthy  and  faithful  friends,  Rogers 


FEATHER   CAP   AND   TAWATOWE.  229 

and  McKay,  who  conducted  it  with  characteristic  firmness  and  candor. 
They  had  not  proceeded  far  before  Feather  Cap,  for  the  first  time  in  his 
life,  so  far  as  we  know,  commenced  weeping,  and  wished  to  see  me ;  said 
his  heart  was  sick,  and  he  could  not  live  long  as  he  now  felt.  Tawatowe, 
who  was  no  way  implicated  personally  in  the  difficulties,  and  a  correct 
man,  continued  for  some  time  firm  and  steady  to  his  purpose;  said  the 
whites  were  much  more  to  blame  than  the  Indians ;  that  three-fourths 
of  them,  though  they  taught  the  purest  doctrines,  practiced  the  greatest 
abominations, — alluding  to  the  base  conduct  of  many  in  the  llocky 
Mountains,  where  they  meet  them  on  their  buffalo  hunts  during  the 
summer  season,  and  witness  the  greatest  extravagances.  They  were 
shown  the  inapplicability  of  such  instances  to  the  present  cases  of  diffi 
culty.  He,  too,  at  last,  was  much  subdued;  wished  to  see  me;  was 
admitted ;  made  a  sensible  speech  in  his  own  favor ;  said  he  was  con 
stituted,  eight  years  before,  high  chief;  entered  upon  its  duties  with 
spirit  and  courage,  determined  to  reduce  his  people  to  order.  He 
flogged  the  young  men  and  reproved  the  middle-aged,  till,  having  none 
to  sustain  him,  his  popularity  had  so  declined,  that,  except  in  seasons  of 
difficulty  brought  about  by  their  improprieties,  "  I  am  left  alone  to 
say  my  prayers  and  go  to  bed,  to  weep  over  the  follies  and  wickedness 
of  my  people."  Here  his  voice  trembled,  and  he  wept  freely;  ac 
knowledged  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  mill  was  burnt  purposely  by 
some  disaffected  persons  toward  Dr.  Whitman.  I  spoke  kindly  and 
somewhat  encouragingly  to  these  chiefs  ;  assured  them  the  guilty  only 
were  to  be  regarded  as  such  ;  and  that  candor  was  commendable,  and 
would  be  honored  by  all  the  good ;  assured  them  I  credited  all  they 
said,  and  deplored  the  state  of  their  nation,  which  was  in  perfect  anar 
chy  and  confusion;  told  them  I  could  say  but  little  to  them  now,  as 
their  chiefs  were  mostly  abroad ;  but  must  say  the  shocking  conduct 
of  one  of  the  chiefs  toward  Mrs.  Whitman  greatly  afflicted  me ;  and 
that,  with  the  destruction  of  the  mill,  and  their  abominable  conduct 
toward  Dr.  Whitman,  if  not  speedily  settled,  would  lead  to  the  worst 
of  consequences  to  their  tribe.  I  made  an  engagement  to  meet  them 
and  all  the  tribe  on  the  10th  of  the  ensuing  April,  to  adjust  differences 
and  come  to  a  better  understanding,  they  earnestly  wishing  to  adopt 
such  laws  as  the  Nez  Perces  had  done.  We  should  probably  have 
accomplished  a  satisfactory  settlement,  had  not  several  of  the  influen 
tial  chiefs  been  too  far  away  to  get  information  of  the  meeting.  We 
reached  Wascopuni  on  December  25,  the  Indians  being  in  great  excite 
ment,  having  different  views  and  impressions  respecting  the  nature  of 
the  approaching  visit.  Wre  spent  four  days  with  them,  holding  meet 
ings  daily,  instructing  them  in  the  nature  of  government,  civil  relations, 


230  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

domestic  duties,  etc.  Succeeded,  in  like  happy  manner,  with  them  as 
with  the  Nez  Perces,  they  unanimously  adopting  the  same  code  of  laws. 

Late  information  from  one  of  their  missionaries  you  will  see  in  the 
following  note  from  Mr.  H.  B.  Brewer : — 

"The  Indians  of  this  place  intend  to  carry  out  the  regulations  you 
left  them  to  the  letter.  They  have  been  quite  engaged  in  cutting  logs 
for  houses,  and  live  in  expectation  of  better  dwellings  by  and  by. 
For  the  least  transgression  of  the  laws,  they  are  punished  by  their 
chiefs  immediately.  The  clean  faces  of  some,  and  the  tidy  dresses  of 
others,  show  the  good  eifects  of  your  visit." 

And  here  allow  me  to  say,  except  at  Wascopum,  the  missionaries  of 
this  upper  country  are  too  few  in  number  at  their  respective  stations, 
and  in  too  defenseless  a  state  for  their  own  safety,  or  the  best 
good  of  the  Indians,  the  latter  taking  advantage  of  these  circum 
stances,  to  the  no  small  annoyance,  and,  in  some  instances,  greatly 
endangering  the  personal  safety,  of  the  former.  You  will  see  its  bear 
ings  upon  this  infant  colony,  and  doubtless  give  such  information  or 
instructions  to  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners,  or  myself,  as 
will  cause  a  correction  of  this  evil.  It  has  already  occasioned  some 
difficulty  and  much  cost.  I  have  insisted  upon  an  increase  of  numbers 
at  Mr.  Spalding's  mission,  which  has  accordingly  been  re-enforced  by 
Mr.  Littlejohn  and  lady,  rendering  that  station  measurably  secure ; 
but  not  so  at  Wailatpu,  or  some  of  the  Catholic  missions,  where  some  of 
them  lost  a  considerable  amount  in  herds  d urine:  last  winter,  and,  I  am 

O 

told,  were  obliged  to  abandon  their  posts,  their  lives  being  endangered. 
This  was  in  the  interior,  near  the  Blackfoot  country.  You  will 
observe,  from  the  reports  of  the  different  missions,  which,  so  far  as  I 
am  otherwise  informed,  are  correct,  that  they  are  doing  some  positive 
good  in  the  country,  not  only  by  diffusing  the  light  of  science  abroad 
among  us,  but  also  by  giving  employment  to  many,  and,  by  their 
drafts  upon  the  different  Boards  and  others,  creating  a  circulating 
medium  in  this  country  ;  but,  though  they  make  comparatively  slow 
progress  in  the  way  of  reform  among  the  aborigines  of  this  country, 
their  pious  and  correct  example  has  a  most  restraining  influence  upon 
both  whites  and  Indians,  and  in  this  way  they  prevent  much  evil. 

They  have  in  successful  operation  six  schools.  Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Spalding  (whose  zeal  and  untiring  industry  for  the  benefit  of  the 
people  of  their  charge  entitle  them  to  our  best  considerations)  have  a 
school  of  some  two  hundred  and  twenty-four,  in  constant  attendance, 
most  successfully  carried  forward,  which  promises  to  be  of  great  use 
fulness  to  both  sexes  and  all  ages.  Rev.  Messrs.  Walker  and  Eells  I 
have  not  been  at  leisure  to  visit,  but  learn  they  have  two  small  schools 


MISREPRESENTING   MISSIONARIES.  231 

in  operation ;  the  one  at  Wailatpu,  Dr.  Whitman's  station,  is  now 
recommenced  with  promise  of  usefulness. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Blanchet  and  associates,  though  zealous  Catholics,  are 
peaceable,  industrious,  indefatigable,  and  successful  in  promoting  reli 
gious  knowledge  among  the  Canadian  population  and  aborigines  of  this 
country.  Their  enterprise  in  the  erection  of  mills  and  other  public 
works  is  very  commendable,  and  the  general  industry,- good  order,  and 
correct  habits  of  that  portion  of  the  population  under  their  charge  is 
sufficient  proof  that  their  influence  over  their  people  has  been  everted 
for  good.*  The  Rev.  Mr.  Lee  and  associates,  from  their  well-conducted 
operations  at  the  Dalles,  upon  the  Columbia,  and  a  school  of  some  thirty 
scholars  successfully  carried  forward  upon  the  Wallamet,  are  doing  but 
little  for  the  Indians;  nor  could  great  efforts  produce  much  good  among 
the  scattered  remnants  of  the  broken  tribes  of  this  lower  district,  who 
are  fast  disappearing  before  the  ravages  of  the  most  loathsome  diseases. 
Their  principal  hopes  of  success  in  this  country  are  among  the  whites, 
where  they  are  endeavoring  to  lay  deep  and  broad  the  foundations  of 
science.  The  literary  institution  referred  to  by  Mr.  Lee  is  situated  upon 
a  beautiful  rising  ground,  a  healthy  and  eligible  location.  Could  a  dona 
tion  of  five  thousand  dollars  be  bestowed  upon  the  institution,  it  would 
greatly  encourage  its  friends.  The  donations  made  by  individuals  of 
this  country  have  been  most  liberal,  several  giving  one-third  of  all  they 
possessed.  There  is  a  small  school  established  at  Tualatine  Plains  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Clark  and  lady.  There  is  also  a  school  at  the  Catholic  Mis 
sion,  upon  the  Wallamet,  and  also  one  upon  their  station  at  Cowlitz. 
For  further  information  I  will  refer  you  to  the  reports  made,  at  my 
request,  by  the  several  missions,  and  accompanying  these  dispatches. 
*^****** 

I  must  close  by  praying  that  measures  may  be  speedily  entered  into 
to  take  possession  of  this  country,  if  such  steps  have  not  already  been 
taken.  I  left  home  before  the  close  of  the  session  of  Congress,  and  by 
reason  do  not  know  what  disposition  was  made  of  Hon.  Mr.  Linn's  bill. 
As  a  reason  for  this  praying,  I  would  here  say,  the  time  was  when  the 
gentlemen  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  missions  wielded  the 

*  This  statement  about  Rev.  Mr.  Blanchet  and  associates,  "their  enterprise  in  erect 
ing  mills  and  other  public  works,"  shows  how  easy  it  was  for  the  agent  to  belittle 
his  own  countrymen's  labors,  and  attribute  to  others  what  they  never  attempted  to  do, 
and  in  the  next  paragraph  say  they  "are  doing  but  little  for  the  Indians;"  while  the 
truth  is,  and  was  at  the  time,  that  Mr.  Lee  and  his  mission  were  the  only  persons  in  the 
Wallamet  Yalley  doing  any  thing  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  Indians,  of  which 
their  Indian  school,  now  "Wallamet  University,  is  a  permanent  monument,  which  Dr. 
White  ignores  in  this  report. 


232  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

entire  influence  over  this  small  population ;  but  as  they  have  been  re- 
enforcod  latterly  from  whale  ships,  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the 
Southwestern  States,  these  hitherto  salutary  restraints  and  influences 
are  giving  way,  and  being  measurably  lost. 

At  present  I  have  considerable  influence,  but  can  not  long  expect  to 
retain  it,  especially  in  the  faithful  discharge  of  iny  duty.  As  a  reason  for 
coming  to  such  a  conclusion,  I  had  but  just  arrived  from  the  interior, 
when  I  received  an  urgent  call  to  visit  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  I  left 
at  once,  in  company  with  Nathaniel  Crocker,  Esq.,  Mr.  Rogers  (my  inter 
preter),  his  lady,  and  her  yo-ung  sister  (the  females  going  only  to  the  falls), 
with  a  crew  of  Indians,  on  our  ill-fated  expedition.  We  reached  the  falls 
at  sunset,  February  1,  and,  by  reason  of  the  water  being  higher  than  usual, 
in  passing  around  a  jutting  or  projecting  rock,  the  canoe  came  up  sud 
denly  against  a  log  constituting  the  landing,  at  which  instant  I  stepped 
oft',  and  in  a  moment,  the  canoe  was  swept  away,  with  all  its  precious 
cargo,  over  the  falls  of  thirty-eight  feet,  three  rods  below.  The  shock 
was  dreadful  to  this  infant  colony,  and  the  loss  was  dreadful  and  irrepa 
rable  to  me,  Mr.  Rogers  being  more  important  to  me  than  any  one  in 
tire  country;  nor  was  there  a  more  respectable  or  useful  man  in  the 
colony.  Nathaniel  Crocker  came  in  with  me  last  fall  from  Tompkins 
County ;  he  was  much  pleased  with  the  country  and  its  prospects,  and 
the  citizens  were  rejoiced  at  the  arrival  of  such  a  man  in  this  country ; 
lie  was  every  way  capacitated  for  usefulness.  None  of  the  bodies  of 
the  four  whites  or  two  Indians  have  been  as  yet  found. 

******** 

On  arriving  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  I  found  a  sailor  by  the 
name  of  George  Geere,  who  had  most  evidently  and  maliciously  labored 
to  instigate  the  Indians  to  take  the  life  of  one  of  the  mission  gentlemen, 
by  the  offer  of  five  blankets.  Complaint  being  made,  and  having  no 
better  means,  I  prevailed  upon  Governor  McLaughlin  to  allow  him  to 
accompany  their  express  across  the  mountains  to  the  States.  I  would 
here  say,  as  the  scamp  was  nearly  a  fool  as  well  as  villain,  I  allowed  him 
to  go  without  sending  evidence  against  him,  on  condition  of  his  going 
voluntarily,  and  never  returning. 

I  here  likewise  found  a  rash,  venturesome  character,  about  starting 
off  on  a  trapping  and  trading  excursion  among  a  somewhat  numerous 
band  of  Indians,  and  nowise  well  disposed  toward  the  whites.  As  he 
saw  and  felt  no  danger,  arguments  were  of  no  avail,  and  threats  only 
prevented. 

Sir,  shall  men  be  allowed  to  go  wherever  they  may  please,  however 
remote  from  the  colony,  and  settle,  under  circumstances  that  endanger 
not  only  their  own  personal  safety,  but  the  peace  and  safety  of  the 


DR.   WHITE'S  PROCEEDINGS.  233 

whole  white  population  ?     Please  give  me  specific  instructions  respect 
ing  this  matter. 

******** 

I  have  eight  prisoners  on  hand  at  present,  for  various  crimes,  princi 
pally  stealing  horses,  grain,  etc.  ;  and  crimes  are  multiplying  with  num 
bers  among  the  whites,  and  with  scarcity  of  game  among  the  Indians. 
******** 

No  intelligence  from  abroad  has  reached  us  this  winter.  Mount  St. 
Helen,  one  of  these  snow-capped  volcanic  mountains,  some  16,000  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  eighty  miles  northwest  of  Vancouver, 
broke  out  upon  the  20th  of  November  last,  presenting  a  scene  the  most 
awful  and  sublime  imaginable,  scattering  smoke  and  ashes  several 
hundred  miles  distance. 

A  petition  started  from  this  country  to-day,  making  bitter  com 
plaints  against  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  Governor  McLaughlin. 
On  reference  to  it  (as  a  copy  was  denied),  I  shall  only  say,  had  any  gen 
tleman  disconnected  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  been  at  half  the 
pains  and  expense  to  establish  a  claim  on  the  Wallamet  Falls,  very  feAV 
would  have  raised  an  opposition.  His  half-bushel  measure  I  know  to 
be  exact,  according  to  the  English  imperial  standard.  The  gentlemen 
of  this  company  have  been  fathers  and  fosterers  of  the  colony,  ever 
encouraging  peace,  industry,  and  good  order,  and  have  sustained  a 
character  for  hospitality  and  integrity  too  well  established  to  be  easily 
shaken. 

I  am,  sir,  sincerely  and  most  respectfully,  your  humble  and  obedient 

servant, 

ELIJAH  WHITE, 

Sub-Agent  Indian  Affairs,  W.  R.  M. 
T.  HARTLEY  CRAWFORD,  Esq., 

Commissioner  Indian  Affairs. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Letter  of  H.  II.  Spalding  to  Dr.  White. — Account  of  his  mission  among  the  .N"ez 
Forces. — Schools. — Cultivation. — Industrial  arts. — Moral  character. — Arable  land. 
— Letter  of  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 

MY  DEAR  BROTHER, — The  kind  letter  which  onr  mission  had  the 
honor  of  receiving  from  yourself,  making  inquiries  relative  to  its  num 
bers,  the  character  of  the  Indian  tribes  among  whom  its  several  stations 
are  located,  the  country,  etc.,  is  now  before  me. 

The  questions  referring  to  Indian  character  are  very  important,  and 
to  answer  them  demands  a  more  extended  knowledge  of  character  and 
habits,  from  personal  daily  observation,  than  the  short  residence  of  six 
years  can  afford,  and  more  time  and  attention  than  I  can  possibly  com 
mand,  amidst  the  numerous  cares  and  labors  of  the  station.  I  less  regret 
this,  as  the  latter  will  receive  the  attention  of  my  better-informed  and 
worthy  associates  of  the  other  stations. 

Concerning  many  of  the  questions,  I  can  only  give  my  own  half- 
formed  opinions,  from  limited  observations  which  have  not  extended 
far  beyond  the  people  of  my  immediate  charge. 

Our  mission  is  under  the  patronage  of  the  American  Board,  and  was 
commenced  in  the  fall  of  1836,  by  Marcus  Whitman,  M.  D.,  and  myself, 
with  our  wives  and  Mr.  Gray.  Dr.  Whitman  was  located  at  Wailatpu, 
among  the  Cayuse  Indians,  twenty-five  miles  east  of  Fort  Walla  walla,  a 
trading-post  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  which  stands  nine  miles 
below  the  junction  of  Lewis  and  Clarke  rivers,  three  hundred  from  the 
Pacific,  and  about  two  hundred  from  Fort  Vancouver.  I  was  located  at 
this  place,  on  the  Clearwater,  or  Koos-koos-ky  River,  twelve  miles  from 
its  junction  with  the  Lewis  River,  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  east 
of  Wailatpu.  Mr.  Gray  left  the  same  winter,  and  returned  to  the 
States.  In  the  fall  of  1838,  Mr.  Gray  returned  to  this  country,  accom 
panied  by  Mrs.  Gray,  Messrs.  Walker,  Eells,  and  Smith,  and  their 
uives,  and  Mr.  Rogers.  The  next  season,  two  new  stations  were  com 
menced,  one  by  Messrs.  Walker  and  Eells  at  Cimakain,  near  Spokan  River, 
among  the  Spokan  Indians,  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles  north 
west  of  this  station,  and  sixty-five  miles  south  of  Fort  Colville,  on  the 
Columbia  River,  three  hundred  miles  above  Fort  Wallawalla ;  the  sec 
ond  by  Mr.  Smith,  among  the  Nez  Perces,  sixty  miles  above  this  station. 


INDIAN  SCHOOL.  235 

There  are  now  connected  with  this  mission  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Walker 
and  Eells,  Mrs.  Walker  and  Mrs.  Eells;  at  Cimakain,  myself,  and  Mrs. 
Spalding  at  this  station.  Dr.  Whitman  is  now  on  a  visit  to  the  States, 
and  Mrs.  Whitman  on  a  visit  to  the  Dalles,  a  station  of  our  Methodist 
brethren.  But  two  natives  have  as  yet  been  admitted  into  the  church. 
Some  ten  or  twelve  others  give  pleasing  evidence  of  having  been  born 
again. 

Concerning  the  schools  and  congregations  on  the  Sabbath,  I  will 
speak  only  of  this  station.  The  congregation  on  the  Sabbath  varies  at 
different  seasons  of  the  year,  and  must  continue  to  do  so  until  the  peo 
ple  find  a  substitute  in  the  fruits  of  the  earth  and  herds  for  their  roots, 
game,  and  fish,  which  necessarily  require  much  wandering.  I  am 
happy  to  say  that  this  people  are  very  generally  turning  their  atten 
tion,  with  much  apparent  eagerness,  to  cultivating  the  soil,  and  raising 
hogs,  cattle,  and  sheep,  and  find  a  much  more  abundant  and  agreeable 
source  of  subsistence  in  the  hoe  than  in  their  bows  and  sticks  for 
digging  roots. 

For  a  few  weeks  in  the  fall,  after  the  people  return  from  their  buffalo 
hunt,  and  then  a,gain,  in  the  spring,  the  congregation  numbers  from  one 
to  two  thousand.  Through  the  winter  it  numbers  from  two  to  eight 
hundred.  From  July  to  the  1st  of  October,  it  varies  from  two  to  five 
hundred.  The  congregation,  as  also  the  school,  increases  every  winter, 
as  the  quantity  of  provision  raised  in  this  vicinity  is  increased. 

Preparatory  to  schools  and  a  permanent  congregation,  my  earliest 
attention,  on  arriving  in  this  country,  was  turned  toward  schools,  as 
promising  the  most  permanent  good  to  the  nation,  in  connection  with 
the  written  word  of  God  and  the  preached  gospel.  But  to  speak  of 
schools  then  was  like  speaking  of  the  church  bell,  when  as  yet  the 
helve  is  not  put  in  the  first  ax  by  which  the  timber  is  to  be  felled,  or 
the  first  stone  laid  in  the  dam  which  is  to  collect  the  water  from  whence 
the  lumber  in  the  edifice  in  which  the  bell  is  to  give  forth  its  sounds. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  through  the  blessing  of  God,  we  have  had  an  increas 
ingly  large  school,  for  two  winters  past,  with  comparatively  favorable 
means  of  instruction. 

But  the  steps  by  which  we  have  been  brought  to  the  present  eleva 
tion,  if  I  may  so  speak,  though  we  aretyet  exceedingly  low,  begin  far, 
far  back  among  the  days  of  nothing,  and  little  to  do  with. 

Besides  eating  my  own  bread  by  the  sweat  of  my  brow,  there  were 
the  wandering  children  of  a  necessarily  wandering  people  to  collect 
and  bring  permanently  within  the  reach  of  the  school.  Over  this 
department  of  labor  hung  the  darkest  cloud,  as  the  Indian  is  noted 
for  despising  manual  labor;  but  I  would  acknowledge,  with  humble 


236  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

gratitude,  the  interposition  of  that  hand  which  holds  the  hearts  of  all 
men.  The  hoe  soon  brought  hope,  light,  and  satisfaction,  the  fruits  of 
which  are  yearly  becoming  much  more  than  a  substitute  for  their  for 
mer  precarious  game  and  roots,  and  are  much  preferred  by  the  people, 
who  are  coming  in  from  the  mountains  and  plains,  and  calling  for  hoes, 
plows,  and  seeds,  much  faster  than  they  can  be  furnished,  and  collect 
ing  around  the  station  in  increasing  numbers,  to  cultivate  their  little 
farms ;  BO  furnishing  a  permanent  school  and  congregation  on  the  Sab 
bath,  from  four  to  eight  months,  and,  as  the  farms  are  enlarged, 
giving  food  and  employment  for  the  year.  I  trust  the  school  and  con 
gregation  will  be  permanent  through  the  year.  It  was  no  small  tax 
on  my  time  to  give  the  first  lessons  on  agriculture.  That  the  men  of 
the  nation  (the  first  chiefs  not  excepted)  rose  up  to  labor  when  a  few 
hoes  and  seeds  were  offered  them,  I  can  attribute  to  nothing  but  the 
unseen  hand  of  the  God  of  missions.  That  their  habits  are  really 
changed  is  acknowledged  by  themselves.  The  men  say,  whereas  they 
once  did  not  labor  with  their  hands,  now  they  do ;  and  often  tell  me  in 
jesting  that  I  have  converted  them  into  a  nation  of  women.  They  are 
a  very  industrious  people,  and,  from  very  small  beginnings,  they  now 
cultivate  their  lands  with  much  skill,  and  to  good  advantage.  Doubt 
less  many  more  would  cultivate,  but  for  the  want  of  means.  Your 
kind  donation  of  fifty  hoes,  in  behalf  of  the  government,  will  be  most 
timely ;  and  should  you  be  able  to  send  up  the  plows  you  kindly  pro 
posed,  they  will,  without  doubt,  be  purchased  immediately,  and  put  to 
the  best  use. 

But  to  return  to  the  school.  It  now  numbers  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  in  daily  attendance,  half  of  which  are  adults.  Nearly  all 
the  principal  men  and  chiefs  in  this  vicinity,  with  one  chief  from  a 
neighboring  tribe,  are  members  of  the  school.  A  new  impulse  was 
given  to  the  school  by  the  warm  interest  yourself  and  Mr.  McKay  took 
in  it  while  you  were  here.  They  are  as  industrious  in  school  as  they 
are  on  their  farms.  Their  improvement  is  astonishing,  considering  their 
crowded  condition,  and  only  Mrs.  Spalding,  with  her  delicate  consti 
tution  and  her  family  cares,  for  their  teacher. 

About  one  hundred  are  printing  their  own  books  with  a  pen.  This 
keeps  up  a  deep  interest,  as  they  daily  have  new  lessons  to  print,  and 
what  they  print  must  be  committed  to  memory  as  soon  as  possible. 

A  good  number  are  now  so  far  advanced  in  reading  and  printing  as 
to  render  much  assistance  in  teaching.  Their  books  are  taken  home  at 
nights,  and  every  lodge  becomes  a  schoolroom. 

Their  lessons  are  scripture  lessons;  no  others  (except  the  laws)  seem 
to  interest  them.  I  send  you  a  specimen  of  the  books  they  print  in 


NUMBER   OF   FARMS.  237 

school.  It  was  printed  by  ten  select  adults,  yet  it  is  a  fair  specimen  of 
a  great  number  in  the  school. 

The  laws  which  you  so  happily  prepared,  and  which  were  unani* 
mously  adopted  by  the  people,  I  have  printed  in  the  form  of  a  small 
school-book.  A  great  number  of  the  school  now  read  them  fluently. 
I  send  you  a  few  copies  of  the  laws,  with  no  apologies  for  the  imperfect 
manner  in  which  they  are  executed.  Without  doubt,  a  school  of  nearly 
the  same  number  could  be  collected  at  Kirniah,  the  station  above  this, 
vacated  by  Mr,  Smith,  the  present  residence  of  Ellis,  the  principal  chief. 

Number  'who  cultivate. — Last  season  about  one  hundred  and  forty 
cultivated  from  one-fourth  of  an  acre  to  four  or  five  acres  each.  About 
half  this  number  cultivate  in  the  valley.  One  chief  raised  one  hundred 
and  seventy-six  bushels  of  peas  last  season,  one  hundred  of  corn,  and 
four  hundred  of  potatoes.  Another,  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  peas,  one 
hundred  and  sixty  of  corn,  a  large  quantity  of  potatoes,  vegetables,  etc. 
Ellis,  I  believe,  raised  more  than  either  of  the  above-mentioned.  Some 
forty  other  individuals  raised  from  twenty  to  one  hundred  bushels  of- 
grain.  '  Eight  individuals  are  now  furnished  with  plows.  Thirty-two 
head  of  cattle  are  possessed  by  thirteen  individuals  ;  ten  sheep  by  four ; 
come  forty  hogs. 

Arts  and  sciences. — Mrs.  Spalding  has  instructed  ten  females  in  knit 
ting,  a  majority  of  the  female  department  in  the  schools  in  sewing,  six 
in  carding  and  spinning,  and  three  in  weaving.  Should  our  worthy 
brother  and  sister,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Littlejohn,  join  us  soon,  as  is  now  ex 
pected,  I  trust,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  we  shall  see  greater  things  than 
we  have  yet  seen.  From  what  I  have  seen  in  the  field,  the"  school,  the 
spinning  and  weaving  room,  in  the  prayer-room,  and  Sabbath  congre 
gation,  I  am  fully  of  the  opinion  that  this  people  are  susceptible  of  high 
moral  and  civil  improvement. 

Moral  character  of  the  people. — On  this  point  there  is  a  great  diver 
sity  of  opinion.  One  writer  styles  them  more  a  nation  of  saints  than 
of  savages;  and  if  their  refusing  to  move  camp  for  game,  at  his  sug 
gestion,  on  a  certain  day,  reminded  him  that  the  Sabbath  extended  as 
far  west  as  the  Rocky  Mountains,  he  might  well  consider  them  such. 
Another  styles  them  supremely  selfish,  which  is  nearer  the  truth ;  for, 
without  doubt,  they  are  the  descendants  of  Adam.  What  I  have  above 
stated  is  evidently  a  part  of  the  bright  side  of  their  character.  But 
there  is  also  a  dark  side,  in  which  I  have  sometimes  taken  a  part.  I 
must,  however,  confess  that  when  I  attempt  to  name  it,  and  hold  it  up 
as  a  marked  exception  to  a  nation  in  similar  circumstances,  without  the 
restraint  of  wholesome  laws,  and  strangers  to  the  heaven-born  fruits  of 
enlightened  and  well-regulated  society,  I  am  not  able  to  do  it.  Faults 


238  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

they  have,  and  very  great  ones,  yet  few  of  them  seemed  disposed 
to  break  the  Sabbath  by  traveling  and  other  secular  business.  A 
very  few  indulge  in  something  like  profane  swearing.  Very  few  are 
superstitiously  attached  to  their  medicine  men,  who  are,  without  doubt, 
sorcerers,  and  are  supposed  to  be  leagued  with  a  supernatural  being 
(Waikin),  who  shows  himself  sometimes  in  the  gray  bear,  the  wolf, 
the  swan,  goose,  wind,  clouds,  etc. 

Lying  is  very  common  ;  thieving  comparatively  rare ;  polygamy  for 
merly  common,  but  now  rare;  much  gambling  among  the  young  men  ; 
quarreling  and  fighting  quite  rare ;  habit  of  taking  back  property  after 
it  is  sold  is  a  practice  quite  common,  and  very  evil  in  its  tendency. 
All  these  evils,  I  conceive,  can  be  traced  to  the  want  of  wholesome 
laws  and  well-regulated  society.  There  are  two  traits  in  the  character 
of  this  people  I  wish  to  notice.  One  I  think  I  can  account  for ;  the 
other  I  can  not.  It  is  often  said  the  Indian  is  a  noble-minded  being, 
never  forgetting  a  kindness.  So  far  as  my  experience  has  gone  with 
this  people,  the  above  is  most  emphatically  true,  but  in  quite  a  different 
sense  from  the  idea  there  conveyed.  It  is  true  they  never  forget  a 
kindness,  but  after  make  it  an  occasion  to  ask  another ;  and  if  refused, 
return  insults  according  to  the  favors  received.  My  experience  foas 
taught  me  that,  if  I  would  keep  the  friendship  of  an  Indian,  and  do  him 
good,  I  must  show  him  no  more  favor  in  the  way  of  property  thanf 
what  he  returns  some  kind  of  an  equivalent  for;  most  of  our  trials  have 
arisen  from  this  source,  I  am,  however,  happy  to  feel  tnat  there  is  a 
manifest  improvement  as  the  people  become  more  instructed,  and  we 
become  more  acquainted  with  their  habits.  This  offensive  trait  in  the 
Indian  character  I  believe,  in  part,  should  be  charged  to  the  white  man. 
It  has  been  the  universal  practice  of  all  white  men  to  give  tobacco,  to 
name  no  other  article,  to  Indians  when  they  ask  for  it.  Hence  two  very 
natural  ideas :  one  is,  that  the  white  man  is  in  debt  to  them  ;  the  other  is, 
that  in  proportion  as  a  white  man  is  a  good  man  he  will  discharge  this 
debt  by  giving  bountifully  of  his  provisions  and  goods.  This  trait  in 
Indian  character  is  capable  of  being  turned  to  the  disadvantage  of 
traders,  travelers,  arid  missionaries,  by  prejudiced  white 'men. 

The  last  trait,  which  I  can  not  account  for,  is  an  apparent  disregard 
for  the  rights  of  white  men.  Although  their  eagerness  to  receive  in 
struction  in  school  on  the  Sabbath  and  on  the  farm  is  without  a  parallel 
in  my  knowledge,  still,  should  a  reckless  fellow  from  their  own  number, 
or  even  a  stranger,  make  an  attack  on  my  life  or  property,  I  have  no 
evidence  to  suppose  but  a  vast  majority  of  them  would  look  on 
with  indifference  and  see  our  dwelling  burnt  to  the  ground  and  our 
heads  severed  from  our  bodies.  I  can  not  reconcile  this  seeming  want 


ARABLE  LAND.  239 

of  gratitude  with  their  many  encouraging  characteristics.  But  to  con 
clude  this  subject,  should  our  unprofitable  lives,  through  a  kind  Provi 
dence,  be  spared  a  few  years,  by  the  blessing  of  the  God  of  missions, 
we  expect  to  see  this  people  Christianized  to  a  great  extent,  civilized, 
and  happy,  with  much  of  science  and  the  word  of  God,  and  many  of 
the  comforts  of  life ;  but  not  without  many  days  of  hard  labor,  and 
sore  trials  of  disappointed  hopes,  and  nameless  perplexities. 

The  number  of  this  people  is  variously  estimated  from  two  thousand 
to  four  thousand,  I  can  not  give  a  correct  estimate. 

At  this  station  there  is  a  dwelling-house,  a  schoolhouse,  storehouse, 
flour  and  saw  mills  (all  of  a  rough  kind),  fifteen  acres  of  land  under 
improvement,  twenty-four  head  of  cattle,  thirty-six  horses,  sixty-seven 
sheep.  Rev.  Messrs.  Walker  and  Eells,  I  hope,  will  report  of  Wailatpu ; 
but  should  they  fail,  I  will  say,  as  near  as  I  can  recollect,  about  fifty 
acres  of  land  are  cultivated  by  some  seventy  individuals;  a  much  greater 
number  of  cattle  and  hogs  than  among  this  people.  Belonging  to  the 
station  are  thirty-four  head  of  cattle,  eleven  horses,  some  forty  hogs ; 
one  dwelling-house  of  adobes  (well  finished),  a  blacksmith's  shop,  flour- 
rnill  (lately  destroyed  by  fire),  and  some  forty  acres  of  land  cultivated. 

Arable  land. — The  arable  land  in  this  upper  country  is  confined  al 
most  entirely  to  the  small  streams,  although  further  observation  may 
prove  that  many  of  the  extensive  rolling  prairies  are  capable  of  pro 
ducing  wheat.  They  can  become  inhabited  only  by  cultivating  timber ; 
but  the  rich  growth  of  buffalo  grass  upon  them  will  ever  furnish  an  in 
exhaustible  supply  for  innumerable  herds  of  cattle  and  sheep.  I  know 
of  no  country  in  the  world  so  well  adapted  to  the  herding  system.- 
Cattle,  sheep,  and  horses  are  invariably  healthy,  and  produce  rapidly ; 
sheep  usually  twice  a  year.  The  herding  system  adopted,  the  country 
at  first  put  under  regulations  adapted  to  the  scarcity  of  habitable  places 
(say  that  no  settlers  shall  be  allowed  to  take  up  over  twenty  acres  of 
land  on  the  streams),  and  the  country  without  doubt  will  sustain  a 
great  population.  I  am  happy  to  feel  assured  that  the  United  States 
government  have  no  other  thoughts  than  to  regard  the  rights  and 
wants  of  the  Indian  tribes  in  this  country. 

And  while  the  agency  of  Indian  affairs  in  this  country  remains  in  the 
hands  of  the  present  agent,  I  have  the  fullest  confidence  to  believe  that 
the  reasonable  expectations  in  reference  to  the  intercourse  between 
whites  and  Indians  will  be  fully  realized  by  every  philanthropist  and  every 
Christian.  But  as  the  Indian  population  is  sparse,  after  they  are 
abundantly  supplied,  there  will  be  remaining  country  sufficient  for  an 
extensive  white  population. 

The  thought  of  removing  these  tribes,  that  the  country  may  come 


240  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

wholly  in  possession  of  the  whites,  can  never  for  a  moment  enter  the 
mind  of  a  friend  of  the  red  man,  for  two  reasons,  to  name  no  other : 
First,  there  are  but  two  countries  to  which  they  can  be  removed,  the 
grave  and  the  Blackfoot,  between  which  there  is  no  choice  ;  second,  the 
countless  millions  of  salmon  which  swarm  the  Columbia  and  its  tribu 
taries,  and  furnish  a  very  great  proportion  of  the  sustenance  of  the 
tribes  who  dwell  upon  these  numerous  waters,  and  a  substitute  for 
which  can  nowhere  be  found  east  or  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  but 
in  herds  or  cultivating  their  own  land.  *  *  * 

Your  humble  servant, 

Dr.  WHITE,  H.  H.  SPALDING. 

Agent  for  Indian  Affairs  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  WAR,  ) 

OFFICE  OF  INDIAN  AFFAIRS,  Nov.  25,  1844.  ) 

Communications  have  been  received  from  Dr.  Elijah  White,  sub- 
agent  for  the  Indians  in  Oregon  Territory,  dated,  severally,  November 
15,  1843,  and  March  18, 1844.  *  *  *  They  contain  much  of  in 
terest  in  considerable  detail.  The  establishment  of  white  settlements 
from  the  United  States,  in  that  remote  region,  seems  to  be  attended 
with  the  circumstances  that  have  always  arisen  out  of  the  conversion  of 
an  American  wilderness  into  a  cultivated  and  improved  region,  modi 
fied  by  the  great  advance  of  the  present  time  in  morals,  and  benevolent 
and  religious  institutions.  It  is  very  remarkable  that  there  should  be  so 
soon  several  well-supported,  well-attended,  and  well-conducted  schools 
in  Oregon.  The  Nez  Perce  tribe  of  Indians  have  adopted  a  few  simple 
and  plain  laws  of  their  code,  which  will  teach  them  self-restraint,  and  is 
the  beginning  of  government  on  their  part. 

It  is  painful,  however,  to  know  that  a  distillery  for  the  manufacture 
of  whisky  was  erected  and  in  operation  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
which,  however,  the  sub-agent,  sustained  by  the  resident  whites,  broke 
up  and  destroyed.  There  was,  in  February  last,  an  affray  between  a 
very  boisterous  and  desperate  Indian  and  his  party  and  a  portion  of 
the  settlers,  which  ended  in  the  death  of  several  of  the  combatants. 
This  unfortunate  affair  was  adjusted,  as  it  is  hoped,  satisfactorily  and 
permanently,  by  the  sub-agent,  though  he  seems  to  apprehend  an  early 
outbreak.  I  trust  he  is  mistaken. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

T.  HARTLEY  CRAWFORD. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  WILKINS, 

Secretary  of  War. 


CHAPTER    XXXH. 

Dr.  E.  White's  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War. — Excitement  among  the  Indians. — Yisit 
to  Nez  Perces,  Cayuses,  and  Wallawallas. — Destitution  and  degradation  of  the 
Coast  Indians. — Dr.  White  eulogizes  Governor  McLnughlin  and  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company. — Schools  and  missions. — Mr.  Jesse  Applegate. — Dr.  White's  second 
letter. — Letters  of  Peter  H.  Hatch  and  W.  H.  Wilson. — Seizure  of  a  distillery. — 
Search  for  liquor. — Letter  of  James  D.  Saules. — Fight  with  Indians. — Death  of 
Cockstock. — Description  and  character  of  him. — The  Molallos  and  Klamaths. — 
Agreement  with  the  Dalles  Indians. — Presents  to  Cockstock's  widow. — Dr.  White'3 
third  letter. — Letter  of  Rev.  G-.  Hines  to  Dr.  White. — Letter  of  W.  Medill. 

WALLAMET  VALLEY,  OREGON,  } 
November  15,  1843.  j 

HONORED  SIR, — Since  my  arrival,  I  have  had  the  honor  of  address 
ing  you  some  three  or  four  communications,  the  last  of  which  left  early 
in  April,  conveyed  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  express  over  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  via  Canada,  which  I  hope  and  judge  was  duly 
received. 

Immediately  after  this,  I  received  several  communications  from  mis 
sionaries  of  the  interior,  some  from  the  Methodists  and  others  from 
those  sent  out  by  the  American  Board,  representing  the  Indians  of  the 
interior  as  in  a  state  of  great  excitement,  and  under  much  apprehension 
from  the  circumstance  that  such  numbers  of  whites  were  coming  in,  as 
they  were  informed,  to  take  possession  of  their  lands  and  country. 
The  excitement  soon  became  general,  both  among  whites  and  Indians, 
in  this  lower  as  well  upper  district ;  and  such  were  the  constantly  floating 
groundless  reports,  that  much  uneasiness  was  felt,  and  some  of  our  citi 
zens  were  under  such  a  state  of  apprehension  as  to  abandon  their 
houses,  and  place  themselves  more  immediately  within  the  precincts  of 
the  colony.  As  in  all  such  cases,  a  variety  of  opinions  was  entertained 
and  expressed, — some  pleading  for  me,  at  the  expense  of  the  general 
government,  to  throw  up  a  strong  fortification  in  the  center  of  the  col 
ony,  and  furnish  the  settlers  with  guns  and  ammunition,  so  that  we 
might  be  prepared  for  extremities.  Others  thought  it  more  advisable 
for  me  to  go  at  once  with  an  armed  force  of  considerable  strength  to 
the  heart  and  center  of  the  conspiracy,  as  it  was  represented,  and  if 
words  would  not  answer,  make  powder  and  balls  do  it.  A  third  party 
entertained  other  views,  and  few  were  really  agreed  on  any  one 
measure. 

16 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

As  may  be  imagined,  I  felt  the  awkwardness  of  my  position ;  but, 
without  stopping  to  consult  an  agitated  populace,  selected  a  sensible 
clergyman  arid  a  single  attendant,  with  my  interpreter,  and  so  man 
aged  as  to  throw  myself  immediately  into  their  mid^t  unobserved. 
The  measure  had  the  desired  effect, — though,  as  in  my  report  I  will 
more  fully  inform  yon,  it  had  like  to  have  cost  me  my  life. 

The  Indians  flocked  around  .me,  and  inquired  after  my  party,  and 
could  not  be  persuaded  for  some  time,  but  that  I  had  a  large  party 
concealed  somewhere  near,  and  only  waited  to  get  them  convened,  to 
open  a  fire  upon  and  cut  them  all  off  at  a  blow.  On  convincing  them 
of  my  defenseless  condition  and  pacific  intentions,  they  were  quite 
astounded  and  much  affected,  assuring  me  they  had  been  under  strong 
apprehensions,  having  learned  I  was  soon  to  visit  them  with  a  large 
armed  party,  with  hostile  intentions,  and  I  actually  found  them  suffer 
ing  more  from  fears  of  war  from  the  whites,  than  the  whites  from  the 
Indians ;  each  party  resolving,  however,  to  remain  at  home,  and  there 
fight  to  the  last,  though,  fortunately,  some  three  or  four  hundred 
miles  apart* 

The  day  following,  we  left  these  Wallawallas  and  Cayuses,  to  pay  a 
visit  to  the  Nez  Perec's,  promising  to  call  on  our  return,  and  enter  into  a 
treaty  of  amity,  if  we  could  agree  on  the  terms,  and  wished  them  to 
give  general  notice  to  all  concerned  of  both  tribes. 

In  two  days  we  were  at  Mr.  Spalding's  station.  The  Nez  Perces 
came  together  in  greater  numbers  than  on  any  former  occasion  for 
years,  and  all  the  circumstances  combining  to  favor  it,  received  us 
most  cordially.  Their,  improvement  during  the  winter  in  reading, 
writing,  etc.,  was  considerable,  and  the  enlargement  of  their  planta 
tions,  with  the  increased  variety  and  quantities  of  the  various  kinds  of 
grains  and  products  now  vigorously  shooting  forth,  connected  with  the 
better  state  of  cultivation  and  their  universally  good  fences,  were  cer 
tainly  most  encouraging. 

Spending  some  three  days  with  this  interesting  tribe,  and  their 
missionaries,  in  the  pleasantest  manner,  they  accepted  my  invitation  to 
visit  with  me  the  Cayuses  and  Wallawallas,  and  assist  by  their  influ 
ence  to  bring  them  into  the  same  regulation  they  had  previously 
adopted,  and  with  which  all  were  so  well  pleased. 

Mr.  Spalding,  and  Ellis,  the  high  chief,  with  every  other  chief  and 
brave  of  importance,  and  some  four  or  five  hundred  of  the  men  and 
their  women,  accompanied  us  to  Wailatpu,  Doctor  Whitman's  station, 
a  distance  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  where  we  met  the  Cayuses 
and  Wallawallas  in  mass,  and  spent  some  five  or  six  days  in  getting 
*  Who  were  the  instigators  of  these  alarms  among  the  Indians  ? 


INDIAN  WOMEN   ATTEND   FEAST.  243 

matters  adjusted  and  principles  settled,  so  as  to  receive  the  Cayuses 
into  the  civil  compact ;  which  being  done,  and  the  high  chief  elected, 
much  to  the  satisfaction  of  both  whites  and  Indians,  I  ordered  two  fat 
oxen  to  be  killed,  and  wheat,  salt,  etc.,  distributed  accordingly.  *  *  * 

This  was  the  first  feast  at  which  the  Indian  women  of  this  country 
were  ever  permitted  to  be  present,  but  probably  will  not  be  the  last; 
for,  after  some  explanation  of  my  reasons,  the  chiefs  were  highly 
pleased  with  it ;  and  I  believe  more  was  done  at  that  feast  to  elevate 
and  bring  forward  their  poor  oppressed  women  than  could  have  been 
done  in  years  by  private  instruction. 

The  feast  broke  up  in  the  happiest  manner,  after  Five  Crows,  the 
Cayuse  chief,  Ellis,  and  the  old  war  chief  of  whom  I  made  particular 
mention  in  my  last  report  as  being  so  well  acquainted  with  Clarke  and 
a  few  others,  had  made  their  speeches,  and  we  had  smoked  the  pipe  of 
peace,  which  was  done  by  all  in  great  good  humor. 

From  this  we  proceeded  to  the  Dalles  on  the  Columbia  River,  where 
I  spent  two  months  in  instructing  the  Indians  of  different  tribes,  who 
either  came  in  mass,  or  sent  ernbassadors  to  treat  with  me,  or,  as  they 
denominate  it,  take  my  laws,  which  are  thus  far  found  to  operate 
well,  giving  them  greater  security  among  themselves,  and  helping 
much  to  regulate  their  intercourse  with  the  whites.  Being  exceedingly 
anxious  to  bring  about  an  improvement  and  reformation  among  this 
people,  I  begged  money  and  procured  articles  of  clothing  to  the 
amount  of  a  few  hundred  dollars,  not  to  be  given,  but  to  be  sold  out  to 
the  industrious  women,  for  mats,  baskets,  and  their  various  articles  of 
manufacture,  in  order  to  get  them  clothed  comfortably  to  appear  at 
church ;  enlisted  the  cheerful  co-operation  of  the  mission  ladies  in 
instructing  them  how  to  sew  and  make  up  their  dresses ;  and  had  the 
happiness  to  see  some  twenty  of  these  neatly  clnd  at  divine  service,  and 
a  somewhat  large  number  out  in  the  happiest  mood  to  a  feast  I  ordered 
them,  at  which  the  mission  ladies  and  gentlemen  were  present. 

During  these  two  months  I  labored  hard,  visiting  many  of  their  sick 
daily ;  and  by  the  most  prompt  and  kind  attention,  and  sympathizing 
with  them  in  their  affliction,  encouraging  the  industrious  and  virtuous, 
and  frowning  in  language  and  looks  upon  the  vicious,  I  am  satisfied 
good  was  done.  They  gave  evidence  of  attachment ;  and  my  influence 
was  manifestly  increased,  as  well  as  the  laws  more  thoroughly  under 
stood,  by  reason  of  my  remaining  so  long  among  them. 

During  my  up-country  excursion,  the  whites  of  the  colony  convened, 
and  formed  a  code  of  laws  to  regulate  intercourse  between  themselves 
during  the  absence  of  law  from  our  mother  country,  adopting  in 
almost  all  respects  the  Iowa  code.  In  this  I  was  consulted,  and 


244  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

encouraged  the  measure,  as  it  was  so  manifestly  necessary  for  the  col 
lection  of  debts,  securing  rights  in  claims,  and  the  regulation  of  general 
intercourse  among  the  whites. 

Thus  far,  these  laws  have  been  of  some  force  and  importance,  answer 
ing  well  in  cases  of  trespass  and  the  collection  of  debts;  but  it  is  doubt 
ful  how  they  would  succeed  in  criminal  affairs,  especially  if  there  should 
happen  to  be  a  division  of  sentiment  in  the  public  mind. 

The  Indians  of  this  lower  country,  as  was  to  be  expected,  give  con 
siderable  trouble,  and  are  most  vexatious  subjects  to  deal  with.  In 
mind,  the  weakest  and  most  depraved  of  their  race,  and  physically, 
thoroughly  contaminated  with  the  scrofula  and  a  still  more  loathsome 
disease  entailed  by  the  whites;  robbed  of  their  game  and  former  means 
of  covering ;  lost  to  the  use  of  the  bow  and  arrow ;  laughed  at,  scoff 
ed,  and  contemned  by  the  whites,  and  a  hiss  and  by-word  to  the  sur 
rounding  tribes,  they  are  too  dejected  and  depressed  to  feel  the  least 
pleasure  in  their  former  amusements,  and  wander  about  seeking  gener 
ally  a  scanty  pittance  by  begging  and  pilfering,  but  the  more  ambitious 
and  desperate  among  them  stealing,  and  in  some  instances  plundering 
on  a  large  scale.  Were  it  not  that  greater  forbearance  is  exercised 
toward  them  than  whites  generally  exercise,  bloodshed,  anarchy,  and 
confusion  would  reign  predominant  among  us.  But  thus  far,  it  is  but 
just  to  say,  the  Indians  have  been,  in  almost  every  instance,  the  aggres 
sors;  and  though  none  of  us  now  apprehend  an  Indian  war  or  invasion, 
it  appears  to  me  morally  impossible  that  general  quiet  can  long  be 
secure,  unless  government  takes  almost  immediate  measures  to  relieve 
the  anxieties  and  better  the  condition  of  these  poor  savages  and  other 
Indians  of  this  country.  I  am  doing  what  I  can,  and  by  reason  of  my 
profession,  with  lending  them  all  the  assistance  possible  in  sickness, 
and  sympathizing  with  them  in  their  numerous  afflictions,  and  occasion 
ally  feeding,  feasting,  and  giving  them  little  tokens  of  kind  regard,  have 
as  yet  considerable  influence  over  them,  but  have  to  punish  some,  and 
occasion  the  chiefs  to  punish  more,  which  creates  me  enemies,  and  must 
eventuate  in  lessening-  my  influence  among  them,  unless  the  means  are 
put  in  my  hands  to  sustain  and  encourage  the  chiefs  and  well-disposed 
among  them.  Good  icords,  kind  looks,  and  medicine  have  some  power' 
but,  honored  and  very  dear  sir,  you  and  I  know  they  do  not  tell  with 
Indians  like  blankets  and  present  articles,  to  meet  their  tastes,  wants,  and 
necessities.  Sir,  I  know  how  deeply  anxious  you  are  to  benefit  and  save 
what  can  be  of  the  withering  Indian  tribes,  in  which  God  knows  how 
fully  and  heartily  I  am  with  you,  and  earnestly  pray  you,  and  through 
you  our  general  government,  to  take  immediate  measures  to  satisfy  the 
minds,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  render  to  these  Indians  an  equivalent  for 


WHITE'S  ARBITRARY   MEASURES.  245 

their  once  numerous  herds  of  deer,  elk,  buffalo,  beaver,  and  otter,  nearly 
as  tame  as  our  domestic  animals,  previously  to  the  whites  and  their  fire 
arms  coming  among  them,  and  of  which  they  are  now  stripped,  and  for 
which  they  suffer.  But,  if  nothing  can  be  done  for  them  upon  this  score, 
pray  save  them  from  being  forcibly  ejected  from  the  lands  and  graves 
of  their  fathers,  of  which  they  begin  to  entertain  serious  fears.  Many 
are  becoming  considerably  enlightened  on  the  subject  of  the  white  man's 
policy,  and  begin  to  quake  in  view  of  their  future  doom ;  and  come  to 
me  from  time  to  time,  anxiously  inquiring  what  they  are  to  receive  for 
such  a  one  coming  and  cutting  off  all  their  most  valuable  timber,  and 
floating  it  to  the  falls  of  the  Wallamet,  and  getting  large  sums  for  it; 
some  praying  the  removal  of  licentious  wrhites  from  among  them; 
others  requiring  pay  for  their  old  homestead,  or  a  removal  of  the  in 
truders.  So,  sir,  you  see  already  I  have  my  hands,  head,  and  heart  full ; 
and  if  as  yet  I  have  succeeded  in  giving  satisfaction, — as  many  hundreds 
that  neither  know  nor  care  for  me,  nor  regard  in  the  least  the  rights  of 
the  Indians,  are  now  flocking  in, — something  more  must  be  done,  and 
that  speedily,  or  a  storm  ensues. 

I  remove  all  licentious  offenders  from  among  them,  especially  if 
located  at  a  distance  from  the  colony,  and  encourage  the  community  to 
keep  within  reasonable  bounds,  and  settle  as  compactly  as  the  general 
interest  and  duty  to  themselves  will  admit. 

The  large  immigrating  party  have  now  arrived,  most  of  them  with 
their  herds,  having  left  the  wagons  at  Wallawalla  and  the  Dalles,  which 
they  intend  to  bring  by  land  or  water  to  the  Wallamet  in  the  spring. 
Whether  they  succeed  in  getting  them  through  by  land  the  last  sixty 
miles  is  doubtful,  the  road  not  having  been  as  yet  well  explored.  They 
are  greatly  pleased  with  the  country  and  its  prospects.  Mr.  Applegate, 
who  has  been  so  much  in  government  employ,  and  surveyed  such  por 
tions  of  Missouri,  says  of  this  valley,  it  is  a  country  of  the  greatest 
beauty  and  the  finest  soil  he  has  seen. 

The  settlers  are  actively  and  vigorously  employed,  and  the  colony  in 
a  most  prosperous  state,  crops  of  every  kind  having  been  unusually  good 
this  season.  The  little  unhappy  difference  between  the  American  set 
tlers  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  arising  from  the  last  spring's 
petition  to  our  government,  has  been  healed,  and  we  have  general 
quiet, — both  parties  conducting  themselves  very  properly  toward  each 
other  at  present.  And  here  allow  me  to  say,  the  seasonable  services  in 
which  hundreds  of  dollars  were  gratuitously  expended  in  assisting  such 
numbers  of  our  poor  emigrant  citizens  down  the  Columbia  to  the  Wal 
lamet,  entitle  Governor  McLaughlin,  saying  nothing  of  his  previous 
fatherly  and  fostering  care  of  this  colony,  to  the  honorable  considera- 


246  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

tion  of  the  members  of  our  government.  And  I  hope,  as  he  is  desirous 
to  settle  with  his  family  in  this  country,  and  has  made  a  claim  at  the 
falls  of  the  Wallamet,  his  claim  will  be  honored  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
make  him  conscious  that  we,  as  a  nation,  are  not  insensible  to  his 
numerous  acts  of  benevolence  and  hospitality  toward  our  countrymen. 
Sir,  in  the  midst  of  slander,  envy,  jealousy,  and,  in  too  many  instances, 
of  the  blackest  ingratitude,  his  unceasing,  never-tiring  hospitality 
affects  me,  and  makes  him  appear  in  a  widely  different  light  than  too 
many  would  have  him  and  his  worthy  associates  appear  before  the 
world. 

The  last  year's  report,  in  which  was  incorporated  Mr.  Linn's  Oregon 
speech  and  Captain  Spalding's  statements  of  hundreds  of  unoffending 
Indians  being  shot  down  annually  by  men  under  his  control,  afflicts  the 
gentlemen  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  is  utterly  without  foun 
dation, — no  company  or  gentlemen  ever  having  conducted  themselves 
more  judiciously  among  Indians  than  they  uniformly  have  done  in  this 
country  ;  and  I  am  of  the  governor's  opinion,  who  declares,  openly,  there 
have  not  been  ten  Indians  killed  by  whites  in  this  whole  region  west 
of  Fort  Hall,  for  the  last  twenty  years,  nor  do  I  know  of  that  number, 
and  two  of  those  were  killed  by  our  citizens.  What  were  destroyed  by 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  sufferered  for  willful  murder,  none  pretend 
ing  a  doubt  of  the  propriety  of  the  course  adopted.* 

There  are  now  four  schools  kept  in  the  colony,  of  which  I  shall  speak 
more  fully  in  my  annual  report :  one  at  the  Tualatin  Plains,  under  the 
direction  and  auspices  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clark,  a  self-supporting  mission 
ary  ;  a  second  (French  and  English)  school  is  in  successful  operation 
by  Mr.  Blanchet,  Roman  Catholic  missionary  to  this  colony  ;  a  third  is 
well  sustained  by  the  citizens,  and  kept  at  the  falls  of  the  Wallamet ;  a 
fourth  (boarding  and  manual  labor)  sustained  by  the  Methodist  Boai'd 
of  Missions,  for  the  benefit  of  Indian  youth,  of  which  Mr.  Lee  will  speak 
particularly.  The  location  is  healthy,  eligible,  and  beautiful,  and  the 
noble  edifice  does  honor  to  the  benevolent  cause  and  agents  that  founded 
it.  And  while  here,  allow  me  to  say,  Mr.  Jesse  Applegate,  from  Mis 
souri,  is  now  surveying  the  mission  claim,  a  plat  of  which  will  be  pre 
sented  to  the  consideration  of  the  members  of  our  government,  for 
acceptance  or  otherwise,  of  which  I  have  but  little  to  say,  as  I  entertain 
no  doubt  but  Mr.  Lee's  representation  will  be  most  faithful.  Should 
the  ground  of  his  claim  be  predicated  upon  the  much  effected  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Indians,  I  am  not  with  him  ;  for,  with  all  that  has  been 

*  This  statement  of  Dr.  White's  shows  his  disposition  to  misrepresent  his  own  coun 
trymen,  to  favor  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  foreign  subjects  who  were  disposed 
to  flatter  his  vanity. 


DR.  WHITE   OPPOSES   REV.    J.   LEE.  247 

expended,  without  doubting  the  correctness  of  the  intention,  it  is  most 
manifest  to  every  observer  that  the  Indians  of  this  lower  country,  as  a 
whole,  have  been  very  little  benefited.  They  were  too  far  gone  with 
scrofula  and  venereal.  But  should  he  insist,  as  a  reason  of  his  claim, 
the  benefit  arising  to  the  colony  and  country,  I  am  with  him  heartily  ; 
and  notwithstanding  the  claim  is  a  valuable  one,  this  country  has  been 
increased  more  by  the  mission  operations  than  twice  its  amount  in 
finance  ;  besides,  much  has  been  done  in  advancing  civilization,  tem 
perance,  literature,  and  good  morals,  saying  nothing  of  the  evils  that 
must  have  arisen  in  this  lawless  country  in  the  absence  of  all  moral 
restraint.  Mr.  Lee  was  among  the  first  pioneers  to  this  distant  land, 
has  struggled  in  its  cares,  toils,  and  trials,  has  risen  with  its  rise ;  and 
it  is  but  just  to  say,  he  and  his  associates  are  exerting  a  considerable 
and  most  salutary  influence  all  abroad  among  us.  I  hope  his  reception 
will  be  such  that  he  will  return  from  Washington  cheered  and  encour 
aged  to  pursue  his  benevolent  operations  in  this  country.  The  Catho 
lic  and  the  different  Protestant  missions  have  been  prosperous  during 
the  last  year,  and  are  as  generally  acceptable  to  the  whites  as  could, 
from  their  different  pursuits,  have  been  expected.  *  *  * 

Great  expectations  are  entertained,  from  the  fact  that  Mr.  Linn's  bill 
has  passed  the  Senate  ;  and  as  it  has  been  so  long  before  the  public,  and 
favorably  entertained  at  Washington,  should  it  at  last  fail  of  passing 
the  Lower  House,  suffer  me  to  predict,  in  view  of  what  so  many  have 
been  induced  to  undergo,  in  person  and  property,  to  get  to  this  distant 
country,  it  will  create  a  disaffection  so  strong  as  to  end  only  in  open 
rebellion;  whereas,  should  it  pass  into  a  law,  it  will  be  regarded  as 
most  liberal  and  handsome,  and  will  be  appreciated  by  most,  if  not  all, 
in  Oregon. 

As  to  the  claim  for  the  Oregon  Institute,  I  need  say  nothing,  hav 
ing  said  enough  in  my  last  report ;  but,  as  that  may  have  failed  in 
reaching,  I  would  just  remark,  that  the  location  is  a  healthy  one, 
and  the  site  fine,  with  prospect  charmingly  varied,  extensive,  and 
beautiful. 

I  leave  this  subject  with  Mr.  Lee  and  the  members  of  our  liberal 
government,  not  doubting  but  that  all  will  be  done  for  this  Institute,  and 
otherwise,  that  can  be,  and  as  soon  as  practicable,  to  lay  deep  and  broad 
the  foundation  of  science  and  literature  in  this  country.  *  *  * 

Respectfully  yours, 

ELIJAH  WHITE, 
Sub-Agent  Indian  Affairs,  W.  R.  M. 

lion.  J.  M.  PORTER, 

Secretary  of  War. 


248  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

WALLAMET,  March  18,  1844. 

SIR, — On  the  evening  of  the  1st  February,  the  two  following 
letters  came  to  me,  finding  me  in  the  upper  settlement  of  the  Wallamet, 
distance  forty  miles : — 

"WALLAMET  FALLS,  January  29,  1844. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — The  undersigned  would  take  this  occasion  to  inform 
you  that  there  have  been  of  late  in  this  place  some  few  cases  of  intoxica 
tion  from  the  effects  of  ardent  spirits.  It  is  currently  reported  that  it 
is  distilled  in  this  place,  and  the  undersigned  have  good  reason  to  credit 
such  reports.  While,  therefore,  the  undersigned  will  not  trouble  you, 
sir,  with  a  detailed  exposition  of  the  facts,  they  must  be  permitted  to 
express  their  deliberate  conviction  that  that  which  has  inflicted  so 
much  injury  upon  the  morals,  the  peace,  and  the  happiness  of  the  world, 
ought  not  to  be  permitted  to  be  manufactured  in  this  country  under 
any  circumstances.  And  your  attention  is  respectfully  invited  to  this 
subject.  "  We  have  the  honor  to  be,  dear  sir, 

"  PETER  H.  HATCH,  President. 
"  A.  L.  LOVEJOY,  Vice-President. 
"  A.  F.  WALLER,  Secretary. 
"  Dr.  E.  WHITE, 

"  Sub- Agent  for  Indian-  Affairs,  Oregon  Territory." 

"WALLAMET  FALLS,  January  26,  1844. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  do  not  know  but  you  have  been  written  to  already 
on  the  subject  which  is  the  cause  of  no  inconsiderable  excitement  at 
this  place,  viz.,  the  manufacture  and  use  of  that  most  degrading,  wither 
ing,  and  damning  of  all  the  curses  that  have  ever  visited  our  race 
since  the  fall  of  Adam.  As  much  as  we  regret  it,  deplore  it,  and 
anathematize  the  men  who  make  it,  it  is  nevertheless  made,  and  men, 
or  rather  biped  brutes,  get  drunk.  Now,  we  believe  if  there  is  any  thing 
that  calls  your  attention  in  your  official  capacity,  or  any  thing  in  which 
you  would  be  most  cordially  supported  by  the  good  sense  and  prompt 
action  of  the  better  part  of  the  community,  it  is  the  present  case.  We 
do  not  wish  to  dictate,  but  hope  for  the  best,  begging  pardon  for 
intrusions.  "  I  am,  dear  sir,  yours  truly, 

"  ELIJAH  WHITE,  Esq.,  "  W.  H.  WILSON. 

"  Sub- Agent  Oregon  Territory." 

I  accordingly  left  at  sunrise  on  the  following  morning,  and  reached 
the  falls  at  sunset.  Without  delay,  I  secured  the  criminal  and  his 


PETTYGROVE'S  LIQUOR.  249 

distillery,  broke  his  apparatus,  and  buried  it  in  the  Wallaraet  River. 
I  put  the  aggressor  under  bonds,  in  the  strongest  penalty  the  nature  of 
the  case  would  admit, — $300, — few  being  willing  to  be  his  bondsmen 
even  for  this  amount. 

Mr.  Pettygrove,  a  merchant,  of  good  habits  and  character,  being 
accused  of  keeping  and  selling  wine  and  brandy,  I  searched,  and  found, 
as  he  had  acknowledged,  half  a  gallon  of  brandy  and  part  of  a  barrel 
of  port  wine,  which  has  been  used,  and  occasionally  parted  with,  only 
for  medicinal  purposes  ;  and,  to  avoid  all  appearance  of  partiality,  I 
required  the  delivery  of  the  brandy  and  wine  on  the  delivery  of  the 
inclosed  bond,  which  was  most  cheerfully  and  cordially  given, — amount 
$1,000.  I  searched  every  suspicious  place  thoroughly,  aided  by  the 
citizens,  but  found  no  ardent  spirits  or  wine  in  the  colony.  Since  this 
period,  no  attempts  have  been  'made  to  make,  introduce,  or  vend 
liquors;  and  the  great  majority  of  the  colonists  come  warmly  to  my 
support  in  this  matter,  proffering  their  aid  to  keep  this  bane  from  our 
community. 

On  the  evening  of  February  20,  I  received  the  following  communica 
tion,  accompanied  by  corroboratory  statements  from  Mr.  Foster,  of 
Oregon  City : — 

"  WALLAMET  FALLS,  February  16,  1844. 

"  SIR, — I  beg  leave  to  inform  you  that  there  is  an  Indian  about  this 
place,  of  the  name  of  Cockstock,  who  is  in  the  habit  of  making  con 
tinual  threats  against  the  settlers  in  this  neighborhood,  and  who  has 
also  murdered  several  Indians  lately.  He  has  conducted  himself  lately 
in  so  outrageous  a  manner,  that  Mr.  Winslow  Anderson  has  considered 
himself  in  personal  danger,  and  on  that  account  has  left  his  place,  and 
come  to  reside  at  the  falls  of  the  Wallamet ;  and  were  I  in  circum 
stances  that  I  could  possibly  remove  from  my  place,  I  would  certainly 
remove  also,  but  am  so  situated  that  it  is  not  possible  for  me  to  do  so. 
I  beg,  therefore,  that  you,  sir,  will  take  into  consideration  the  propriety 
of  ridding  the  country  of  a  villain,  against  the  depredations  of  whom 
none  can  be  safe,  as  it  is  impossible  to  guard  against  the  lurking  at 
tacks  of  the  midnight  murderer.  I  have,  therefore,  taken  the  liberty 
of  informing  you  that  I  shall  be  in  expectation  of  a  decided  answer 
from  you  on  or  before  the  10th  of  March  next ;  after  that  date,  I  shall 
consider  myself  justified  in  acting  as  I  shall  see  fit,  on  any  repetition  of 
of  the  threats  made  by  the  before-mentioned  Indian  or  his  party. 

"  I  am,  etc.,  with  respect, 

"JAMES  D.  SAULES. 

"  Dr.  E.  WHITE,  Superintendent,  etc," 


250  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

As  I  well  knew  all  the  individuals  concerned,  I  resolved  to  repair 
immediately  to  the  spot,  and,  if  possible,  secure  the  Indian  without 
bloodshed,  as  he  was  connected  with  some  of  the  most  formidable  tribes 
in  this  part  of  the  Territory,  though  a  very  dangerous  and  violent 
character.  Accordingly  I  started,  and  reaching  the  falls  on  the  follow 
ing  evening,  collected  a  party  to  repair  to  the  spot  and  secure  him 
while  asleep,  knowing  that  he  would  not  submit  to  be  taken  a  prisoner 
without  resistance.  The  evening  was  stormy,  and  the  distance  some 
eight  miles,  through  thick  wood  and  fallen  timber,  with  two  bad 
streams  to  cross.  Being  on  foot,  my  party  declined  the  attempt  till 
morning, — a  circumstance  I  much  regretted ;  yet,  having  no  military 
force,  I  was  compelled  to  yield.  In  the  morning  I  headed  the  party  of 
ten  men  to  take  this  Indian,  who  had  only  five  adherents,  in  hopes  to 
surprise  and  secure  him  without  fighting, — enjoining  my  men,  from 
many  considerations,  not  to  fire  unless  ordered  to  do  so  in  self-defense. 
Unfortunately,  two  horses  had  just  been  stolen  and  a  house  plundered, 
and  the  Indians  absconded,  leaving  no  doubt  on  our  minds  of  their  being 
the  thieves,  as,  after  tracking  them  two  or  three  miles  into  the  forest, 
they  had  split  off  in  such  a  manner  as  to  elude  pursuit,  and  we  were 
forced  to  return  to  town  unsuccessful,  as  further  pursuit  was  little  more 
rational  than  chasing  an  eagle  amidst  the  mountains.  Cockstock  had 
sworn  vengeance  against  several  of  my  party,  and  they  thirsted  for  his 
blood.  Having  no  other  means  of  securing  him,  I  offered  $100  reward 
to  any  who  would  deliver  him  safely  into  my  hands,  as  I  wished  to 
convey  him  for  trial  to  the  authorities  constituted  among  the  Xez 
Perces  and  Cayuses,  not  doubting  that  they  would  feel  honored  in 
inflicting  a  just  sentence  upon  him,  and  the  colony  thereby  be  saved 
from  an  Indian  war,  so  much  to  be  dreaded  in  our  present  weak  and 
defenseless  condition. 

Some  six  days  subsequent,  Cockstock  and  his  party,  six  in  all,  came 
into  town  at  midday,  rode  from  house  to  house,  showing  his  loaded 
pistols,  and  not  allowing  any  one,  by  artifice  or  flattery,  to  get  them 
out  of  his  bosom  or  hand.  He  and  his  party  were  horridly  painted,  and 
rode  about  the  town,  setting,  as  the  citizens,  and  especially  his  enemies, 
construed  it,  the  whole  town  at  defiance.  The  citizens  endured  it  for 
several  hours,  but  with  great  impatience,  when  at  length  he  crossed  the 
river,  and  entered  the  Indian  village  opposite,  and,  as  the  chief  states, 
labored  for  some  time  to  induce  them  to  join  him  and  burn  clown  the 
town  that  night,  destroying  as  many  of  the  whites  as  possible.  Failing 
in  this  (if  serious  or  correct  in  statement,  which  is  much  doubted  by 
some,  as  the  chief  and  whole  Indian  village  were  inimical  to  him,  and 
doubtless  wished,  as  he  was  a  "  brave,"  to  make  the  whites  the  instru- 


KILLING   OF   LE  BRETON.  251 

merit  of  his  destruction),  he  obtained  an  interpreter,  and  recrossed  the 
river,  as  other  Indians  state,  for  the  purpose  of  calling  the  whites  to  an 
explanation  for  pursuing  him.  with  hostile  intentions.  By  this  time,  the 
excitement  had  become  intense  with  all  classes  and  both  sexes  among  the 
whites,  and,  as  was  to  be  expected,  they  ran  in  confusion  and  disorder 
toward  the  point  where  the  Indians  were  landing, — some  to  take  him 
alive  and  get  the  reward  ;  others  to  shoot  him  at  any  risk  to  themselves, 
the  wealthiest  men  in  town  promising  to  stand  by  them  to  the  amount 
of  $1,000  each.  With  these  different  views,  and  no  concert  of  action, 
and  many  running  merely  to  witness  the  affray,  the  Indians  were  met 
at  the  landing,  and  a  firing  commenced  simultaneously  on  both  sides, 
each  party  accusing  the  other  of  firing  first.  In  the  midst  of  a  hot 
firing  on  both  sides,  Mr.  George  W.  Le  Breton,  a  respectable  young 
man,  rushed  unarmed  upon  Cockstock,  after  the  discharge  of  one  or 
more  of  his  pistols,  and  received  a  heavy  discharge  in  the  palm  of  his 
right  hand,  lodging  one  ball  in  his  elbow  and  another  in  his  arm,  two 
inches  above  the  elbow-joint.  A  scuffle  ensued,  in  which  he  fell  with 
the  Indian,'  crying  out  instantly,  u  He  is  killing  me  with  his  knife."  At 
this  moment  a  mulatto  man  ran  up,  named  Winslow  Anderson,  and 
dispatched  Cockstock,  by  mashing  his  skull  with  the  barrel  of  his  rifle, 
using  it  as  a  soldier  would  a  bayonet.  In  the  mean  time  the  other 
Indians  were  firing  among  the  whites  in  every  direction,  with  guns, 
pistols,  and  poisoned  arrows,  yelling  fearfully,  and  many  narrowly 
escaped.  Two  men,  who  were  quietly  at  work  near  by,  were  wounded 
with  arrows  (Mr.  Wilson  slightly  in  the  hip,  and  Mr.  Rogers  in  the 
muscle  of  the  arm),  but  neither,  as  was  supposed,  dangerously.  The 
five  Indians  having  shot  their  guns  and  arrows,  retired  toward  the 
bluff  east  of  the  town,  lodged  themselves  in  the  rocks,  and  again  com 
menced  firing  upon  the  citizens  indiscriminately.  Attention  was  soon 
directed  that  way,  and  fire-arms  having  been  brought,  the  Indians  were 
soon  routed,  killing  one  of  their  horses,  and  wounding  one  of  them,  thus 
ending  the  affray. 

Mr.  Le  Breton  (the  surgeon  being  absent  from  town)  was  removed 
immediately  to  Vancouver,  where  he  received  every  attention  ;  but  the 
canoe  having  been  ten  hours  on  the  passage,  the  poison  had  diffused 
itself  all  abroad  into  his  system,  and  proved  mortal  in  less  than  three 
days  from  the  moment  of  the  horrid  disaster.  Mr.  Rogers  lived  but 
one  day  longer,  though  but  slightly  wounded  with  an  arrow  in  the 
muscles  of  his  arm.  Mr.  Wilson  has  suffered  comparatively  little,  but 
is  not  considered  in  a  safe  condition. 

This  unhappy  affray  has  created  a  general  sensation  throughout  the 
colony,  and  all  abroad  among  the  Indians  of  this  lower  district.  Now, 


252  HISTORY  OF  OREGOX. 

while  I  am  penning  these  lines,  I  am  completely  surrounded  by  at  least 
seventy  armed  Indians,  just  down  from  the  Dalles  of  the  Columbia, 
many  of  them  the  professed  relatives  of  the  deceased,  on  the  way  to  the 
falls  of  the  Wallamet,  to  demand  an  explanation,  or,  in  other  words,  to 
extort  a  present  for  the  loss  of  their  brother. 

They  appear  well  affected  toward  me ;  remarkably  so,  though  armed 
to  the  teeth,  and  painted  horridly.  I  am  every  moment  expecting  my 
interpreter,  when  I  shall  probably  learn  particulars  respecting  their 
intentions.  In  the  mean  time,  I  will  give  a  few  particulars  respecting 
this  deceased  Indian's  previous  course,  which  led  to  the  disaster,  show 
ing  how  much  we  need  authorities  and  discipline  in  this  country. 

As  it  is  said,  a  negro  hired  Cockstock  for  a  given  time,  to  be  paid  in 
a  certain  horse.  Before  the  time  expired,  the  negro  sold  the  horse  and 
land  claim  to  another  negro,  the  Indian  finishing  his  time  with  the  pur 
chaser,  according  to  agreement.  Learning,  however,  to  his  chagrin  and 
mortification,  that  the  horse  had  changed  owners,  and  believing  it  a 
conspiracy  against  his  rights,  he  resolved  to  take  the  horse  forcibly ; 
did  so,  and  this  led  to  a  year's  contention,  many  threats,  some  wounds, 
and  at  last  to  the  three  deaths,  and  may  possibly  lead  to  all  the  hor 
rors  of  savage  warfare  in  our  hitherto  quiet  neighborhood.  It  was  this 
identical  Cockstock  that  occasioned  much  of  tiie  excitement  last  spring 
among  the  whites  of  the  colony,  actually  driving  several  from  their 
homes  to  the  more  central  parts  of  the  settlement  for  protection. 

I  saw  and  had  an  interview  with  the  Indians  in  June  following,  and 
settled  all  differences,  to  appearances,  satisfactorily ;  but,  four  months 
subsequently,  having  occasioned  the  authorities  constituted  among  the 
Indians  to  flog  one  of  his  connections  for  violently  entering  the  house 
of  the  Rev.  H.  K.  W.  Perkins,  seizing  his  person,  and  attempting  to  tie, 
with  a  view  to  flog  him,  he  took  fire  afresh,  and  in  November  last  came 
with  a  slave  to  my  house,  with  the  avowed  object  of  shooting  me  down 
at  once ;  but  finding  me  absent,  after  a  close  search  in  every  part  of  the 
house,  he  commenced  smashing  the  windows,  lights,  sash,  and  all,  of  my 
house  and  office,  with  the  breech  of  his  gun ;  and  it  is  but  just  to  say  he 
did  his  work  most  effectually,  not  leaving  a  sound  window  in  either.  He 
next  started  hotly  in  pursuit  of  my  steward,  who  was  most  actively 
retreating,  but  was  soon  overtaken  and  seized  by  the  shoulder ;  his 
garment  giving  way  saved  the  frightened  young  man  from  further 
violence. 

I  returned  late  in  the  evening, — this  having  occurred  at  three  P.  M., — 
when  the  villains  were  too  far  away  to  be  overtaken,  though  I  pursued 
them  with  the  best  men  of  the  colony  during  the  whole  night,  and  as 
long  after  as  we  could  trace  them.  This  was  regarded  as  a  great  out- 


AN  INDIAN  FEAST.  253 

rage,  and  created  a  strong  sensation  throughout  the  community :  es 
pecially  as  none  knew  where  to  trace  it  until  within  a  few  weeks  past. 
Some  four  weeks  subsequently,  fifteen  Indians  came  riding  into  the 
neighborhood  in  open  day,  painted  and  well  armed.  I  was  the  first, 
with  one  exception,  that  observed  them,  and  learned  that  they  were 
Molallas  and  Klamaths,  and  felt  confident  they  were  on  an  errand  of 
mischief,  being  well  informed  of  their  marauding  and  desperate  habits. 
As  this  is  quite  out -of  their  province,  the  proper  homes  of  the  Klamaths 
being  at  least  three  hundred  miles  to  the  south,  and  the  Molallas,  with 
whom  they  intermarry,  having  their  lodges  in  the  Cascade  Mountains, 
a  distance  of  from  forty  to  eighty  miles,  I  resolved  at  once  to  turn  their 
visit  to  account;  sent  my  steward  to  Chief  Caleb's  lodge,  where  all 
had  arrived,  he  being  a  Callapooya,  and  with  his  band  having  pre 
viously  entered  with  me  into  the  civil  compact,  and  gave  him  a  cordial 
invitation  to  call  on  me,  with  the  chiefs  of  his  district,  in  the  morning, 
as  I  wished  to  see  them  and  had  some  interesting  and  pleasing  news 
to  convey  to  them.  The  chiefs  called  in  the  morning,  none,  however, 
appearing  so  pleased  and  happy  as  Caleb.  Of  this  I  took  no  notice, 
but  entered  into  cheerful  conversation  with  Caleb  for  a  few  moments, 
and  then  rose  up  and  invited  them  to  walk  out  and  see  my  plantation 
and  herds. 

When  we  reached  the  cattle,  I,  as  by  accident,  or  incidentally,  asked 
Caleb  if  he  was  prepared  to  give  a  feast  to  his  distant  friends  who  had 
so  lately  and  unexpectedly  called  upon  him.  Answering  in  the  nega 
tive,  I  told  him  to  shoot  down  at  once  a  fat  young  ox  that  was  passing 
before  us,  and,  while  some  were  dressing  it,  others  to  come  to  the  house 
and  get  some  flour,  peas,  salt,  etc.,  and  go  immediately  back  and  feast 
his  friends,  lest  they  form  a  very  unfavorable  opinion  of  us  here.  I 
need  not  say  that  the  summons  was  promptly  obeyed,  and  Caleb  the 
happiest  man  in  the  world.  Now  the  rigid  muscles  of  the  stranger 
chiefs  began  to  relax  ;  in  short,  all  distrust  was  soon  lost,  and,  as  they 
were  about  leaving  for  Caleb's  camp,  they  found  themselves  constrained 
to  inform  me  that  they  came  over  with  very  different  feelings  from 
what  they  were  now  leaving  us  with,  and  were  very  glad  they  had 
listened  to  Caleb's  advice,  and  called  upon  me.  Professing  to  be  very 
much  engaged  at  the  moment,  I  told  them  to  go  and  dine,  and  at 
evening,  or  early  the  following  morning,  I  would  come  with  ray  friend, 
Mr.  Applegate,  and  make  them  a  call. 

They  feasted  to  the  full,  and  I  found  them  in  fine  humor,  and  in  a 
better  condition  to  smoke  than  fight.  After  some  casual  conversation  I 
asked  them  how  they  would  like  to  enter  into  the  civil  compact ;  and, 
while  they  were  discussing  the  subject,  this  Indian  (Cockstock)  came 


254:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

first  into  my  presence,  well  armed,  and  appeared  cold  and  distant, 
though  I  had  no  suspicion  of  his  being  the  character  who  had  so  lately 
broken  to  pieces  the  windows  in  my  house  and  office. 

They  had  no  scruples  in  saying  they  were  entirely  willing,  and  should 
be  pleased  on  their  part  to  enter  upon  the  same  terms,  but  did  -not 
know  how  it  might  be  regarded  by  the  residue  of  their  respective  tribes. 
They  engaged  to  meet  me  on  the  15th  March,  writh  the  residue  of  their 
people,  and  use  their  influence  to  bring  about  so  desirable  an  object. 
The  party  left  the  same  day,  apparently  in  a  cheerful  mood,  passed 
over  the  prairie  singing,  talking,  and  laughing  merrily.  As  a  part, 
however,  were  passing  their  horses  over  a  difficult  stream,  the  other 
part  fell  upon  and  massacred  them  in  a  most  shocking  manner,  this 
villainous  Cockstock  acting  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  bloody  affray. 

I  repaired  to  the  spot  without  delay,  as  the  whites  were  much 
excited,  and  wished  to  pursue  and  hang  every  one  of  them.  I  learned 
there  had  been  unsettled  feuds  of  long  standing,  and  that  in  like  man 
ner,  ten  rsonths  previously,  these  unfortunate  wretches  had  shot  down 
a  fellow-traveler.  On  conveying  this  information  to  the  citizens,  all 
I  believe  were  satisfied  to  stay  at  home,  and  remain  quiet  for  the 
present. 

Thus  much  for  this  Indian  affair,  which,  my  interpreter  having 
arrived,  I  have  settled  to-day  with  the  Dalles  Indians  most  satisfac 
torily.  As  was  to  be  expected,  they  wished  presents  for  the  death  of 
their  brother.  I  prevailed  on  all  to  be  seated,  and  then  explained  the 
whole  case  slowly  and  clearly  to  their  understanding.  I  told  them  we 
had  lost  two  valuable  innocent  men,  and  they  but  one ;  and  should  our 
people  learn  that  I  had  given  them  presents,  without  their  giving  me 
two  blankets  for  one,  they  must  expect  nothing  but  the  hottest  dis 
pleasure  from  the  whites.  After  much  deliberation  among  themselves, 
they,  with  one  voice,  concluded  to  leave  the  whole  matter  to  my  dis 
cretion. 

I  at  once  decided  to  give  the  poor  Indian  widow  two  blankets,  a 
dress,  and  handkerchief,  believing  the  moral  influence  to  be  better  than 
to  make  presents  to  the  chief  or  tribe,  and  to  receive  nothing  at  their 
hands.  To  this  proposition  they  most  cheerfully  consented,  and  have 
now  left,  having  asked  for  and  obtained  from  me  a  written  certificate, 
stating  that  the  matter  had  been  amicably  adjusted.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  it  will  here  end,  though  that  is  by  no  means  certain,  as  at  present 
there  are  so  many  sources  of  uneasiness  and  discontent  between  the 
parties. 

As  I  said  before,  I  believe  it  morally  impossible  for  us  to  remain  at 
peace  in  Oregon,  for  any  considerable  time,  without  the  protection  of 


MILITARY   PROTECTION  NEEDED.  255 

vigorous  civil  or  military  law.  For  myself,  I  am  most  awkwardly  situ 
ated  ;  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  I  had  seriously  anticipated  leaving  this 
spring  ;  but  the  late  successful  contest  against  the  introduction  of 
ardent  spirits,  in  connection  with  the  excitement  by  reason  of  the  un 
happy  disaster  at  the  falls  of  the  Wallamet,  together  with  the  fact  of 
too  many  of  our  people  being  so  extremely  excitable  on  Indian  and 
other  affairs  relating  to  the  peace  and  interest  of  the  colony  and  coun 
try,  I  have  concluded  to  remain  for  the  present,  in  hopes  of  being  soon 
in  some  way  relieved.  I  hope  the  draft  that  I  have  this  day  drawn  in 
favor  of. John  McLaughlin  will  be  honored,  as  otherwise  I  may  be 
thrown  at  once  into  the  greatest  difficulties,  having  no  other  house  in 

O  O 

this  country  where  I  can  draw  such  articles  as  I  require  for  necessary 
presents  to  Indians,  to  defray  traveling  expenses,  etc. 

I  have  the   honor  to   remain,  with  highest  respect,  your  obedient 
humble  servant,  E.  WHITE, 

Sub-Agent  Indian  Affairs. 
Hon.  J.  M.  PORTER, 

Secretary  of  War. 


WALLAMET,  March  22,  1844. 

HONORED  SIR, — The  within  accounts,  as  per  voucher  No.  1,  drawn 
on  the  Hudson's  Bay  House  at  Vancouver,  are  in  part  pay  for  interpre 
ters  and  necessary  assistants 'in  guarding  and  conducting  me  from  point 
to  point,  in  my  late  unavoidable  excursions  during  the  excitement  of 
the  fall  of  1842  and  spring  of  1843,  and  other  necessary  voyages  since, 
together  with  the  presents  in  hoes,  medicines,  and  clothes,  to  enable 
me  to  secure  and  hold  a  sufficient  influence  over  the  aborigines  to  pre 
vent  threatened  invasions  and  serious  evils  to  the  colony  and  country. 

Those  upon  Mr.  Abernethy  and  Mr.  A.  E.  Wilson  are  for  like  pur 
poses  ;  drafts  upon  these  houses  being  my  principal  means  of  paying 
expenses  in  this  country. 

As  I  hire  only  when  requisite,  and  dismiss  at  once  when  no  longer 
necessary,  my  interpreter's  bills,  including  clerks  and  all  assistants  for 
the  different  tribes,  do  not  exceed  $300  per  annum  up  to  the  present 
time ;  notwithstanding,  at  one  time,  for  sixty  days,  I  was  under  the 
necessity  of  hiring  two  men  at  the  rate  of  three  dollars  per  day  each. 

Traveling  expenses  in  1842,  three  hundred  and  eighty  dollars  ($380). 
In  1843,  three  hundred  and  ninety-six  dollars  and  fifty  cents  ($396.50). 
In  presents  for  the  two  years  and  two  months,  two  hundred  and  ninety 
dollars  and  seventy-five  cents  ($290.75)  ;  in  medicines,  hoes,  and  sun 
dry  useful  articles,  to  encourage  them  and  strengthen  my  influence 


256  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

among  them,  this  being  my  only  way  to  succeed  to  any  considerable 
extent.  Presents  become  the  more  indispensable  from  the  fact  of  the 
long-continued  and  constant  liberality  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
toward  the  Indians  of  this  country. 

Had  all  remained  in  as  quiet  a  state  as  when  the  colony  was  small, 
and  no  jealousies  awakened,  most  of  those  small  expenses  might  have 
been  avoided,  but,  unless  a  military  post  be  at  once  established,  or 
more  means  put  into  my  hands  to  meet  their  increasing  wants,  my 
expense  will  be  increased,  and  trouble  multiply ;  but  at  this  moment, 
were  one  thousand  dollars  placed  in  my  hands  to  lay  out  judiciously 
in  medicines,  hoes,  plows,  blankets,  and  men,  women,  and  children's 
clothes,  to  distribute  annually,  more  security  would  be  effected,  and 
good  done  to  the  aborigines,  than  in  ten  times  that  amount  expended 
in  establishing  and  keeping  up  a  military  post, — such  is  their  desire 
and  thirst  after  the  means  to  promote  civilization. 

As  this  voyaging  is  most  destructive  to  my  wardrobe,  saying  nothing 
of  the  perils  and  hardships  to  which  it  exposes  me,  shall  I  be  allowed 
the  sum  usually  allowed  military  officers,  which  Esquire  Gilpin  informs 
me  is  ten  dollars  per  each  hundred  miles  ?  I  will  place  it  down  and 
leave  it  to  your  honorable  consideration,  not  doubting,  sir,  but  you 
will  do  what  is  proper  and  right  in  the  premises.  I  shall  charge  only 
for  such  traveling  as  was  unavoidable  in  the  execution  of  my  official 
business.  With  highest  respect,  I  am,  dear  sir, 

Your  humble  and  obedient  servant, 

ELIJAH  WHITE, 
Sub- Agent  Indian  Affairs,  W.  R.  M. 

Hon.  J.  M.  PORTER, 

Secretary  of  War,  Washington,  D.  C. 


WALLAMET,  Nov.  23,  1843. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — As,  in  the  order  of  Divine  Providence,  it  appears 
to  be  my  duty  to  leave  this  country  in  a  few  days  to  return  to  the 
United  States,  and,  as  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  an  acquaintance  with 
all  the  important  transactions  in  which  you  have  been  engaged,  in 
your  official  capacity,  since  your  arrival  in  this  country  in  the  fall  of 
1842, 1  consider  it  a  duty  which  I  owe  to  yourself,  to  bear  my  unequivo 
cal  testimony  in  favor  of  the  course  which  you  have  generally  pursued. 
Not  pretending  to  understand  what  properly  belongs  to  the  office 
of  an  Indian  agent,  I  flatter  myself  that  I  am  capable  of  judging  in 
reference  to  those  matters  which  are  calculated  to  effect  the  elevation 


REV.  G.   HIKES'  LETTER.  257 

and  prosperity  of  the  Indians,  and  the  peace  and  security  of  those 
whites  who  settle  in  the  Indian  country.  As  I  can  not  speak  particu 
larly  concerning  all  your  official  acts  in  the  country,  permit  me  to  refer 
to  one  expedition,  which  I  consider  to  have  been  the  most  important 
of  any  in  which  you  have  been  engaged,  and  in  which  I  had  the  pleas 
ure  of  being  associated  with  you.  I  mean  that  long  and  excessively 
toilsome  journey  which  you  performed  into  the  interior  of  this  country 
early  last  spring.  The  causes  which  prompted  you  to  engage  in  the 
enterprise,  in  my  humble  opinion,  were  the  most  justifiable.  The 
whites  in  the  country  had  been  thrown  into  U  panic  by  information  re 
ceived  from  the  missionaries  in  the  interior,  that  the  Indians  were  form 
ing  a  plan  to  effect  the  destruction  of  the  white  population.  It  was 
everywhere  observed  that  our  Indian  agent  should  immediately  repair 
to  the  infected  region,  and  endeavor  to  quell  the  tumult,  "  for  (it  was 
repeatedly  remarked)  it  was  better  for  one  man  to  expose  his  life  than 
for  the  whole  settlement  to  suffer."  Without  delay  the  exposure  was 
made.  And  though  life  was  not  taken,  yet,  in  accomplishing  the 
object,  you  were  compelled  to  pass  through  much  difficulty,  excessive 
labor,  and  great  danger.  The  plans  proposed  to  quiet  the  Indian*, 
whom  you  found  in  a  state  of  great  excitement,  were  doubtless  con 
ceived  in  wisdom,  and  produced  the  desired  effect.  The  expenses  in 
curred  were  no  more  than  were  absolutely  necessary.  And  I  doubt 
not,  if  the  results  of  the  expedition  are  correctly  represented,  that  our 
enlightened  government  will  make  an  appropriation  to  cover  all  the 
expenses  which  accrued  in  consequence  of  the  undertaking. 

With  my  most  hearty  and  best  wishes  for  your  continued  peace  and 
prosperity,  permit  me  to  subscribe  myself,  yours,  with  feelings  of  un 
altered  friendship.  GUSTAVUS  HINES, 

Missionary  of  the  M.  E.  Church. 

Dr.  ELIJAH  WHITE, 

Sub- Agent  of  Indian  Affairs  west  of  Rocky  Mountains. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  WAR, 
OFFICE  OF  INDIAN  AFFAIRS,  Nov.  24,  1845 


.1 


**  ****** 

Two  interesting  and  very  instructive  reports  have  been  received 

from  the  sub-agent  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.     They  present  that 

country  in  a  new  and  important  light  to  the  consideration  of  the 

public. 

The  advancement  in  civilization  by  the  numerous  tribes-  of  Indians 

in  that  remote  and  hitherto  neglected  portion  of  our  territory,  with  so 
17 


258  HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 

few  advantages,  is  a  matter  of  surprise.  Indeed,  the  red  men  of  that 
region  would  almost  seem  to  be  of  a  different  order  from  those  with 
whom  we  have  been  in  more  familiar  intercourse.  A  few  years  since 
the  face  of  a  white  man  was  almost  unknown  to  them  ;  now,  through 

G 

the  benevolent  policy  of  the  various  Christian  churches,  and  the  inde 
fatigable  exertions  of  the  missionaries  in  their  employ,  they  have 
prescribed  and  well  adapted  rules  for  their  government,  which  are 
observed  and  respected  to  a  degree  worthy  the  most  intelligent 
whites. 

Numerous  schools  have  grown  up  in  their  midst,  at  which  their  chil 
dren  are  acquiring  the  most  important  and  useful  information.  They 
have  already  advanced  to  a  degree  of  civilization  that  promises  the 
most  beneficial  results  to  them  and  their  brethren  on  this  side  of  the 
mountains,  with  whom  they  may,  and  no  doubt  will  at  some  future 
period,  be  brought  into  intercourse.  They  are  turning  their  attention 
to  agricultural  pursuits,  and  with  but  few  of  the  necessary  utensils 
in  their  possession,  already  produce  sufficient  in  some  places  to  meet 
their  every  want. 

Among  some  of  the  tribes,  hunting  has  been  almost  entirely  aban 
doned,  many  individuals  looking  wholly  to  the  soil  for  support.  The 
lands  are  represented  as  extremely  fertile,  and  the  climate  healthy, 
agreeable,  and  uniform. 

Under  these  circumstances,  so  promising  in  their  consequences,  and 
grateful  to  the  feelings  of  the  philanthropist,  it  would  seem  to  be  the 
duty  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  to  encourage  their  ad 
vancement,  and  still  further  aid  their  progress  in  the  path  of  civiliza 
tion.  I  therefore  respectfully  recommend  the  establishment  among 
them  of  a  full  agency,  with  power  to  the  President  to  make  it  an  acting 
superintendency  ;  and  to  appoint  one  or  more  sub-agents,  whenever,  in 
his  judgment,  the  same  may  become  necessary  and  proper. 

All  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

W.  MEDILL. 

Hon.  WM.  L.  MAECY, 

Secretary  of  War. 

The  reader  will  observe  the  clear  statement  of  the  United  States 
Indian  policy  in  the  above  communication.  That  schools,  fanning,  and 
civilization  are  prominent.  That  the  Indians,  as  the  whole  of  this  re 
port  indicates,  are  rapidly  improving  under  the  instructions  of  the  mis 
sionaries  in  the  interior, — Spalding  and  Whitman  in  particular.  That4 
Dr.  White,  in  this  report,  as  contained  in  the  previous  chapter,  attempts 
to  include  Blanchet  and  associates  as  erecting  mills,  etc.,  for  the  benefit 


REMARKS.  259 

of  the  Indians,  while  Spalding's  and  Whitman's  stations  were  the  only 
places  where  mills  had  been  erected. 

These  facts  brought  so  prominently  before  the  British  and  foreign 
mind  their  sectarian  and  commercial  jealousies ;  and  national  pride  was 
so  excited  that  it  knew  no  bounds  and  could  not  be  satisfied  short  of 
the  effort  that  was  made  in  1847-8.  Subsequent  Indian  wars  were  but 
the  spasmodic  and  dying  action  of  the  spirit  that  instigated  the  first. 

It  will  also  be  observed  that  this  report  brings  out  the  bold  efforts 
of  our  foreign  emissaries  to  excite  the  Indians  in  the  settlement,  and 
to  disturb  and  divide  the  American  population  on  the  question  of  an 
organization. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

First  council  to  organize  a  provisional  government. — Library  founded. — Origin  of  the 
Wolf  Association — The  Methodist  Mission  influence. — Dr.  White  exhibits  his 
credentials. — First  "  wolf  meeting." — Proceedings  of  the  second  "wolf  meeting." — 
Officers. — Resolutions. — Bounties  to  be  paid. — Resolution  to-  appoint  a  committee 
of  twelve  for  the  civil  and  military  protection  of  the  settlement. — Names  of  the 
members  of  the  committee. 

A  CONSULTATION  was  held  at  the  house  of  Gray  to  consider  the  expe 
diency  of  organizing  a  provisional  government.  In  it  the  whole  condi 
tion  of  the  settlement,  the  missions,  and  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  were 
carefully  looked  at,  and  all  the  influences  combined  against  the  organi 
zation  of  a  settlers'  government  were  fully  canvassed.  The  conclusion 
was  that  no  direct  effort  could  succeed,  as  it  had  already  been  tried  and 
failed,  from  the  combined  influence  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and 
the  Roman  Catholic  and  Methodist  missions.  To  the  writer,  who  up 
to  this  time  had  not  fully  understood  all  the  causes  of  the  failure,  it  was 
doubtful.  Two  plans  were  suggested;  one,  at  least,  might  succeed.  The 
first  was  to  get  up  a  circulating  library,  and  by  that  means  draw  atten 
tion  and  discussion  to  subjects  of  interest  to  the  settlement,  and  secure 
the  influence  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  as  education  was  a  subject 
they  had  commenced.  We  found  no  difficulty  in  the  library  movement 
from  them,  only  they  seemed  anxious  to  keep  from  the  library  a  certain 
class  of  light  reading,  which  they  appeared  tenacious  about.  This  was 
not  a  vital  point  with  the  original  movers,  so  they  yielded  it.  The 
library  prospered  finely  ;  one  hundred  shares  were  taken  at  five  dollars 
a  share ;  three  hundred  volumes  of  old  books  collected  and  placed  in 
this  institution,  which  was  called  the  "  Multnomah  Circulating  Library ;" 
one  hundred  dollars  were  sent  to  New  York  for  new  books  which 
arrived  the  following  year.  Now  for  the  main  effort  to  secure  another 
position. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  winter  of  1836-7  the  Wallamet 
Cattle  Company  was  formed.  All  the  settlers  that  could  raise  the 
funds  entered  heartily  into  the  project,  and  such  as  had  no  means  to 
advance  money  for  stock  at  the  time  had  succeeded  in  buying  from 
those  that  would  sell.  Besides,  part  of  the  estate  of  Ewing  Young  had 
been  sold  and  distributed,  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  also 
organized  the  Puget  Sound  Company,  and  had  begun  to  distribute 


MOVEMENT  FOR  A  PROVISIONAL  GOVERNMENT.  261 

cattle ;    hence  almost  every  settler,  the  missions,  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  and  some  Indians  were  owning  cattle. 

The  wolves,  bears,  and  panthers  were  very  destructive  to  the  cattle 
of  all  alike.     Here  was  an  object  of  sufficient  interest  to  all,  to  bring  a 
united  action,  and  collect  a  large  number  of  the  settlers.    Accordingly, 
a  notice  was  given,  requesting  all  interested  in  adopting  some  united 
action  to  get  rid  of  the  wild  beasts,  that  were  destroying  our  domestic 
animals,  to  meet  at  the  house  of  W.  H.  Gray,  on  the  2d  of  February, 
1843.     This  was  the  first  move  to  the  provisional  government.     While 
this  was  being  done  in  the  valley,  at  Wallamet  Falls,  since  Oregon 
City,  the  question  of  a  provisional  government  was  up  before  a  lyceum 
held  at  that  place  and  debated  warmly  for  several  evenings,  and  finally 
voted  down.     Dr.  John  McLaughlin  took  the  side  of  an  independent 
government.     Mr.  Abernethy,  afterward  governor,  moved  that,  in  case 
our  government  did  not  extend  its  jurisdiction  over  the  country  in  four 
years,  that  then  the  meeting  would  be  in  favor  of  an  independent  gov 
ernment.     This  idea  was  favored  by  Dr.  White,  upon  condition  that 
the  settlers  would  vote  generally  to  elect  him  as  their  governor,  as  from 
the  fact  that  he  held  the  office  of  sub-Indian  agent  by  the  appointment 
of  the  President,  he  could  officiate  as  governor,  and  it  would  be  no  ad 
ditional  expense  to  the  settlers.     This  was  a  plausible  argument,  and 
had  Dr.  White  been  a  man  of  moral  principle  and  capable  of  under 
standing  his  duties  in  the  office  he  held,  the  settlers  would  without  a 
doubt  have  adopted  his  suggestions ;  but,  unfortunately  for  him,  they 
had  lost  all  confidence  in  his  executive  and  judicial  ability,  as  also  in 
his  ability  to  deal  with  Indians.     Besides,  the  leading  members  of  the 
Methodist  Mission  were  opposed  to  him  on  account  of  his  shameful 
course  while  one  of  their  number,  though  Mr.  Hines  seems  to  have  held 
to  his  skirts  during  the  greater  portion  of  the  time  he  was  creating  all 
the  disturbance  he  was  capable  of  among  the  Indians,  and  being  the 
dupe  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

These  facts  were  all  known  to  the  getters-up  of  the  "  Wolf  Organi 
zation,"  as  it  was  called.  In  fact,  Le  Breton  had  participated  in  the 
discussions  at  the  Wallamet  Falls,  and  reported  them  to  those  of  us  in 
the  valley.  Our  idea  was,  to  get  an  object  before  the  people  upon 
which  all  could  unite,  and  as  we  advanced,  secure  the  main  object, — 
self-preservation,  loth  for  property  and  person. 

The  "  wolf  meeting  "  was  fully  attended,  and  all  took  a  lively  interest 
in  it,  for  there  was  not  a  man  in  the  settlement  that  had  not  been  a 
loser  from  wild  animals.  There  was  a  little  suspicion  in  this  first  meet> 
ing  that  more  than  protection  for  animals  was  meant. 

Dr.  Ira  L.  Babcock,  who  was  elected  our  chairman,  and  who,  we 


262  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

supposed,  would  be  the  first  to  suspect  the  main  object,  seemed  to 
discard  the  idea  as  foolish  and  ridiculous,  as  he  thought  "  we  had  all 
the  protection  for  our  persons  that  we  needed  in  the  arrangements 
already  entered  into,  and  the  object  for  which  the  meeting  was  called 
was  a  good  and  laudable  one ;  we  were  all  interested  in  it ;  we  had  all 
lost  more  or  less  from  the  ravages  of  wild  animals,  and  it  became 
necessary  to  have  a  united  effort  to  get  rid  of  them  and  protect  our 
property."  This  was  the  very  point  we  wished  to  hold  the  doctor  to. 
He  had  expressed  the  idea  exactly,  and  placed  it  in  a  clear  light.  As 
settlers,  we  had  nothing  to  do  but  submit  to  the  rule  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  the  missions,  and  Dr.  White,  and  do  all  we  could  to 
protect  their  cattle  and  herds. 

The  Oregon  archives  show  that  there  were  persons  present  who  wero 
prepared  for  the  occasion.  The  remarks  of  our  chairman  were  appro 
priate,  for  it  was  self-evident  that  our  domestic  animals  needed  protec 
tion  ;  we  could  not  spend  all  our  time  to  guard  them,  hence  a  united 
effort  would  accomplish  in  a  short  time,  and  at  comparatively  little 
expense  to  all,  what  would  otherwise  be  impossible,  scattered  as  our 
settlements  were,  with  our  domestic  animals  exposed  to  the  ravages  of 
wild  animals  known  to  be  numerous  all  over  the  country.  It  was  moved 
that  a  committee  of  six  be  appointed  to  notify  a  general  meeting,  and 
prepare  a  plan,  and  report  the  matter  for  the  action  of  the  settlers. 

The  chairman  was  called  upon  to  appoint  a  committee  to  call  a  pub 
lic  meeting.  Gray,  Beers,  and  Wilson,  already  known  to  the  reader, 
and  Gervais  and  Lucie,  Canadian-Frenchmen,  who  came  to  the  country 
with  Wilson  G.  Hunt's  party,  and  Barnaby,  a  French  Rocky  Mountain 
hunter,  were  appointed. 

These  three  men  were  the  most  intelligent  and  influential  French 
settlers  that  were  then  in  the  country,  having  considerable  influence 
with  the  Canadian-French  settlers,  and  generally  favored  American 
•settlement  and  enterprise. 

The  preparation  for  the  general  meeting,  which  was  moved  by  Alan- 
eon  Beers  to  be  called  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Joseph  Gervais  on  the  first 
Monday  in  March  next,  at  ten  o'clock  A.  M.,  devolved  on  Gray,  Beers, 
and  Wilson.  The  giving  of  the  notices,  which  Le  Breton  with  his 
ready  pen  soon  prepared,  devolved  on  Gervais,  Barnaby,  and  Lucie. 
Up  to  this  time,  no  intimation  of  the  proposed  civil  government  had 
been  given  to  any  member  of  the  missions,  or  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany.  All  was  moving  on  harmoniously,  and  all  were  interested  in 
caring  for  and  protecting  our  domestic  animals.  The  "  wojf  meeting," 
-nd  what  was  to  be  done,  was  the  subject  of  general  interest.  Le 
Ireton  and  Smith  were  busy  in  finding  out  the  men  who  could  be  TO- 


MIXED  INFLUENCES.  263 

lied  upon,  and  the  men  that  would  oppose  the  one  great  object  we  had 
determined  to  accomplish,  so  that  on  the  first  Monday  in  March,  1843, 
the  settlement,  except  the  clergy,  were  all  present.  If  my  memory 
serves  me,  there  was  not  in  that  meeting  a  single  reverend  gentleman 
of  any  denomination.  James  A.  O'Neil,  who  came  to  the  country  with 
Captain  Wyeth  in  1834,  and  had  remained  in  it,  presided  at  this 
meeting.  He  was  informed  of  the  main  object,  and  requested  to  hurry 
through  the  "  wolf  meeting  "  business  as  soon  as  possible. 

It  will  be  seen  that  we  had  placed  before  the  settlement,  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company,  and  both  missions,  an  object  they  were  deeply  in 
terested  in.  The  clergy  were  just  then  all  asleep,  and  so  were  the  com 
pany,  for  while  they  were  all  willing  that  we  should  pay  our  money, 
spend  our  time,  and  hunt  wild  animals  to  protect  their  by  far  the 
largest  portion  of  property  exposed,  they  did  not  suspect  we  were 
looking  to  a  far  more  important  object — our  personal  liberty  ;  hence  the 
settlers'  "  wolf  meeting  "  did  not  call  for  their  attention,  but  they  all 
gave  it  an  encouraging  word,  and  promised  to  contribute  to  its  funds, 
which  they  did,  till  they  saw  the  real  object,  when  they  dropped  it 
without  ceremony,  or  at  least  saw  too  late  that  their  power  was  gone. 

The  Methodist  Mission  influence  was  the  most  difficult  to  deal  with. 
We  were  fully  aware  of  their  large  pretensions  to  land,  and  of  the  con 
summate  duplicity  of  White,  in  dealing  with  all  parties.  White,  to 
secure  the  approval  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  encouraged  their  large 
pretensions  to  mission  lands,  and  also  spoke  favorably  of  the  Jesuit 
influence  among  the  Indians  ;  while,  if  he  had  had  two  grains  of  com 
mon  sense  and  common  honesty,  he  could  have  seen  their  influence  was 
tending  to  destroy  all  of  his,  as  well  as  all  American  influence  in  the 
country.  Still  his  supremely  selfish  ideas  of  self-honor  and  official  dig 
nity  led  him  to  pursue  a  course  disgusting  to  all  parties. 

During  the  time  between  the  first  and  second  "  wolf  meetings,"  White 
was  called  upon  in  a  public  manner  to  exhibit  his  authority  from  the 
President,  which  he  was  foolish  enough  to  do.  It  was  seen  at  once 
that  he  was  in  the  country  only  as  a  spy  upon  the  actions  of  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company,  w^hile  he  assumed  to  make  treaties  with  Indians, 
and  govern  the  country,  and  make  pledges  and  promises,  which  no  one 
believed  the  government  would  ever  attempt  to  fulfill. 

As  a  matter  of  history  and  curiosity,  the  proceedings  of  the  "  wolf 
meetings  "  are  copied  from  the  Oregon  archives,  which  Mr.  Ilines,  it 
seems,  did  not  even  know  had  an  existence,  showing,  by  his  own  state 
ments,  that  he  was  so  completely  mixed  up  in  his  ideas  of  the 
origin  of  the  provisional  government,  that  though  he  is  generally  correct 
in  his  statements,  yet  he  failed  to  distinguish  the  point  of  conception 


264:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

and  birth  of  the  oldest  State  on  the  Pacific,  for  I  contend  that  justice  to 
our  effort  and  a  proper  understanding  of  our  rights  should  have  ad 
mitted  us  as  a  State  instead  of  subjecting  us  to  a  Territorial  annoyance, 
under  such  demagogues  as  were  sent  among  us  up  to  the  time  we 
became  a  State. 

Proceedings  of  a  Meeting  held  at  the  Oregon  Institute,  February  2, 1843. 

A  public  meeting  of  a  number  of  the  citizens  of  this  colony  was  called 
at  the  house  of  W.  H.  Gray,  in  order  to  take  into  consideration  the 
propriety  of  adopting  some  measures  for  the  protection  of  our  herds, 
etc.,  in  this  country. 

On  motion,  Dr.  I.  L.  Babcock  was  called  to  the  chair,  who  proceeded 
to  state  the  objects  of  the  meeting,  and  the  necessity  of  acting. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Gray  moved,  and  Mr.  Torn  seconded  the  motion,  ct  that 
a  committee  of  six  be  appointed  to  notify  a  general  meeting,  and  report 
business,  etc.,"  which  motion  was  carried,  and  Messrs.  Gray,  Beers,  Ger- 
vais,  Wilson,  Barnaby,  and  Lucie,  were  appointed  said  committee. 

Mr.  Beers  moved  "  that  a  general  meeting  be  called  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  Joseph  Gervais,  on  the  first  Monday  in  March  next,  at  ten  o'clock, 
A.  M.,"  which  motion  was  carried. 

W.  H.  WILSON,  Secretary.  I.  L.  BABCOCK,  Chairman. 

Journal  of  a  Meeting  at  the  house  of  J.  Gervais,  first  Monday  in 

March,  1843. 

In  pursuance  of  a  resolution  of  a  previous  meeting,  the  citizens  of 
Wallamet  Valley  met,  and,  the  meeting  being  called  to  order,  Mr. 
James  O'Neil  was  chosen  chairman.  Mr.  Martin  was  chosen  as  secre 
tary,  but  declining  to  serve,  Mr.  Le  Breton  was  chosen. 

The  minutes  of  the  former  meeting  were  read. 

The  committee  appointed  to  notify  a  general  meeting  and  report 
business,  made  the  following  report,  to  wit : — 

"  Your  committee  beg  leave  to  report  as  follows  :  It  being  admitted 
by  all  that  bears,  wolves,  panthers,  etc.,  are  destructive  to  the  useful 
animals  owned  by  the  settlers  of  this  colony,  your  committee  would 
submit  the  following  resolutions,  as  the  sense  of  this  meeting,  by  which 
the  community  may  be  governed  in  carrying  on  a  defensive  and 
destructive  war  against  all  such  animals. 

"  Resolved,  1st.  That  we  deem  it  expedient  for  this  community  to 
take  immediate  measures  for  the  destruction  of  all  wolves,  panthers, 
and  bears,  and  such  other  animals  as  are  known  to  be  destructive  to 
cattle,  horses,  sheep,  and*hogs. 

"  2d.  That  a  treasurer  be  appointed,  who  shall  receive  all  funds,  and 


RESOLUTIONS.  265 

dispense  the  same,  in  accordance  with  drafts  drawn  on  him  by  the 
committee  appointed  to  receive  the  evidences  of  the  destruction  of  the 
ahove-named  animals;  and  that  he  report  the  state  of  the  treasury,  by 
posting  up  public  notices,  once  in  three  months,  in  the  vicinity  of  each 
of  the  committee. 

"  3d.  That  a  standing  committee  of  eight  be  appointed,  whose  duty 
it  shall  be,  together  with  the  treasurer,  to  receive  the  proofs,  or  evi 
dences,  of  the  animals  for  which  a  bounty  is  claimed  having  been 
killed  in  the  Wallamet  Valley. 

"  4th.  That  a  bounty  of  fifty  cents  be  paid  for  the  destruction  of  a 
small  wolf;  three  dollars  for  a  large  wolf;  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  for 
a  lynx ;  two  dollars  for  a  bear ;  and  five  dollars  for  a  panther. 

"  oth.  That  no  bounty  be  paid  unless  the  individual  claiming  said 
bounty  give  satisfactory  evidence,  or  present  the  skin  of  the  head  with 
the  ears  of  all  animals  for  which  he  claims  a  bounty. 

"  6th.  That  the  committee  and  treasurer  form  a  Board  of  advice  to 
call  public  meetings,  whenever  they  may  deem  it  expedient,  to  promote 
and  encourage  all  persons  to  use  their  vigilance  in  destroying  all  the 
animals  named  in  the  fourth  resolution. 

"  7th.  That  the  bounties  specified  in  the  fourth  resolution  be  limited 
to  whites  and  their  descendants. 

"  8th.  That  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting  be  signed  by  the  chair 
man  and  secretary,  and  a  copy  thereof  be  presented  to  the  recorder  of 
this  colony," 

On  motion,  the  report  was  accepted. 

It  was  then  moved  and  seconded  that  the  report  be  laid  on  the  table, 
which  was  carried. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  first  resolution  in  the  report  of 
the  committee  be  adopted,  which  was  carried. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  a  sum  be  raised  by  contribution  for 
the  protection  of  our  animals,  which  was  carried. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  third  resolution,  as  amended,  be 
adopted,  which  was  carried. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  two  collectors  be  appointed  to 
receive  all  subscriptions,  retaining  five  per  cent,  for  collecting  the  same, 
and  pay  the  amount  over  to  the  treasurer,  taking  his  receipt  for  the 
same,  which  was  carried. 

On  motion,  the  fifth  resolution  was  adopted. 

On  motion,  it  was  resolved  "  that  no  one  receive  a  bounty  (except 
Indians)  unless  he  pay  a  subscription  of  five  dollars." 

On  motion,  the  seventh  resolution  was  adopted. 

On  motion,  the  eighth  and  ninth  resolutions  were  adopted. 


266  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  Indians  receive  one-half  as 
much  as  the  whites. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  all  claims  for  bounties  be  presented 
within  ten  days  from  the  time  of  becoming  entitled  to  said  bounties, 
and,  if  there  should  be  any  doubts,  the  individual  claiming  a  bounty 
shall  give  his  oath  to  the  various  circumstances ;  which  was  carried. 

On  motion,  W.  H.  Gray  was  chosen  treasurer. 

It  was  moved  that  Messrs.  McRoy,  Gervais,  Martin,  S.  Smith, 
Dougherty,  O'Neil,  Shortess,  and  Lucie  be  the  standing  committee  ; 
which  motion  was  carried. 

It  was  moved  that  G.  W.  Le  Breton  and  Mr.  Bridgers  be  the  collect 
ors.  Carried. 

On  motion,  the  following  resolutions  were  adopted : — 

"  Resolved,  That  no  money  be  paid  to  any  white,  or  his  descend 
ants,  previous  to  the  time  of  his  subscription. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  bounty  of  a  minor  child  be  paid  to  a  parent 
or  guardian. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  draft  for  receiving  subscriptions  be  drawn  by 
Mr.  Gray  and  Mr.  Le  Breton. 

"  Resolved,  That  drafts  on  Fort  Vancouver,  the  Mission,  and  the 
Milling  Company  be  received  on  subscriptions,  as  payment." 

As  a  kind  Providence  would  have  it,  the  "  wolf  meeting  "  at  Mr. 
Gervais'  house  on  the  Wallamet  River  was  one  of  the  most  harmonious 
meetings  I  ever  attended.  Every  one  seemed  to  feel  that  a  unanimous 
war  had  been  declared  against  the  despoilers  of  our  domestic  animals 
that  were  dependent  upon  us  for  protection. 

It  was  stated  by  one  speaker  "  that  no  one  would  question  for  a  mo 
ment  that  this  was  right.  This  was  just  and  natural  protection  for  our 
property  in  animals  liable  to  be  destroyed  by  wolves,  bears,  and  pan 
thers.  How  is  it,  fellow-citizens,  with  you  and  me,  and  our  children 
and  wives  ?  Have  we  any  organization  upon  which  we  can  rely  for 
mutual  protection  ?  Is  there  any  power  or  influence  in  the  country 
sufficient  to  protect  us  and  all  we  hold  dear  on  earth  from  the  worse 
than  wild  beasts  that  threaten  and  occasionally  destroy  our  cattle  ? 
Who  in  our  midst  is  authorized  at  this  moment  to  call  us  together  to 
protect  our  own,  and  the  lives  of  our  families  ?  True,  the  alarm  may 
be  given,  as  in  a  recent  case,  and  we  may  run  who  feel  alarmed,  and 
shoot  off  our  guns,  while  our  enemy  may  be  robbing  our  property, 
ravishing  our  wives,  and  burning  the  houses  over  our  defenseless 
families.  Common  sense,  prudence,  and  justice  to  ourselves  demand 
that  we  act  consistent  with  the  principles  we  have  commenced.  We 


ORGANIZING  COMMITTEE   APPOINTED.  267 

have  mutually  and  unitedly  agreed  to  defend  and  protect  our  cattle 
and  domestic  animals ;  now,  fellow-citizens,  I  submit  and  move  the 
adoption  of  the  two  following  resolutions,  that  we  may  have  protection 
for  our  persons  and  lives  as  well  as  our  cattle  and  herds : — • 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  take  into  considera 
tion  the  propriety  of  taking  measures  for  the  civil  and  military  pro 
tection  of  this  colony. 

"  Resolved,  That  said  committee  consist  of  twelve  persons." 
There  was  not  a  dissenting  vote  in  that  meeting.     Drs.  Babcock 
and  White  were  not  present,  but  prudence  and  policy  gave  them  both 
a  place  upon  the  proposed  committee  of  twelve,  while  we  knew  the 
feelings  of  the  balance  of  the  committee. 

O 

Messrs.  Dr.  Babcock,  Dr.  White,  O'Neil,  Shortess,  Newell,  Lucie, 
Gervais,  Hubbard,  McRoy,  Gray,  Smith,  and  Gay  were  appointed 
said  committee. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

First  meeting  of  the  committee  of  twelve. — All  invited  to  participate. — The  Rev.  J.  Leo 
and  Mr.  Abernethy  ridicule  the  organization. — Mr.  Lee  tells  a  story. — Letter  from 
Governor  Abernethy. — The  main  question  at  issue. — Drowning  of  Cornelius  Rogers 
and  party. — Conduct  of  Dr.  "White. — Methodist  Mission. — Catholic  boasts  of  con- 


BY  mutual  understanding  the  committee  of  twelve  first  met  at  Wal- 
lamet  Falls,  about  the  middle  of  March,  1843.  My  impression  is  that 
Dr.  Babcock  was  not  present  with  the  committee,  and  that  Dr.  White 
was  chosen  temporary  chairman.  G.  W.  Le  Breton  was  secretary  of 
the  committee.  A  motion  was  made  and  carried  to  invite  the  citizens 
of  the  village  to  participate  in  the  deliberations  of  the  committee.  Key. 
Jason  Lee,  Rev.  Mr.  Waller,  Mr.  Abernethy,  R.  Moore,  in  fact,  nearly 
all  the  prominent  men  of  the  place,  were  present,  and  participated  in 
the  discussions. 

We  found  Rev!  Jason  Lee  and  Mr.  Abernethy  disposed  to  ridicule  the 
proposed  organization  as  foolish  and  unnecessary.  Rev.  Jason  Lee  in 
his  argument  illustrated  the  folly  of  the  effort,  by  telling  us  of  a  com 
pany  of  militia  gotten  up  somewhere  in  Canada.  He  said  "  the  requi 
site  notice  had  been  given,  and  all  the  people  liable  to  military  duty 
were  present  on  the  day  to  elect  the  officers  required  for  the  company. 
When  they  had  elected  all  their  officers,  there  was  one  private  soldier 
left.  *  Well,'  says  the  soldier,  '  you  may  march  me,  you  may  drill  me, 
you  may  face  me  to  the  right,  or  to  the  left,  or  about  face,  just  as  much 
as  you  please,  but  for  mercy's  sake  don't  divide  me  up  into  platoons.' " 

Mr.  Abernethy  made  a  little  attempt  to  ridicule  the  proposed  organi 
zation,  in  moving  to  amend  the  resolution  recommending  three  justices 
of  the  peace  and  three  constables.  We  are  now  in  receipt  of  an  expla 
nation  from  the  governor  in  reference  to  the  question  of  an  independent 
government,  as  debated  at  the  Lyceum,  which  we  give  verbatim,  as  it 
places  the  governor  with  his  own  explanation  on  that  question,  and  I 
think  gives  us  the  correct  statement  of  the  case,  and  shows  his  policy, 
which  was,  to  defeat  not  only  the  proposition  for  an  independent  gov 
ernment,  but  any  effort  for  a  provisional  one,  for  at  least  four  years, — 
which  were  not  only  the  views  of  Mr.  Abernethy,  but  those  of  Messrs. 
Lee,  Leslie,  Babcock,  and  Hines :— 


EFFORT  TO   ORGANIZE   BROKEN  UP.  269 

PORTLAND,  March  11,  1866. 

DEAR  SIR, — Allow  me  to  correct  one  statement  in  your  History  of 
Oregon  in  the  Gazette  of  5th  March.  You  speak  of  a  debate  in  a 
Lyceum,  and  say :  "  Mr.  Abernethy  moved  that  in  case  our  government 
did  not  extend  its  jurisdiction  over  the  country  in  four  years,  that  then 
the  meeting  would  be  in  favor  of  an  independent  government."  The 
facts  are  these  :  We  had  weekly  meetings  for  discussion.  Mr.  Hastings, 
Dr.  McLaughlin's  lawyer,  offered  a  resolution,  "That  it  is  expedient  for 
the  settlers  on  this  coast  to  establish  an  independent  government." 
This  subject  was  warmly  discussed,  Mr.  Abernethy  being,  with  a  few 
others,  opposed  to  it.  At  the  close  of  the  discussion  the  vote  was  taken 
and  decided  in  favor  of  an  independent  government.  Mr.  Abernethy 
then  offered  the  following :  "  Resolved,  That  if  the  United  States  extends 
its  jurisdiction  over  this  country  within  four  years,  it  will  not  be  expe 
dient  to  form  an  independent  government,"  as  the  subject  for  the  next 
discussion.  This  was  warmly  discussed,  many  who  voted  for  the  first 
resolution  saying  if  the  United  States  government  is  extended  over 
us,  it  is  all  we  want,  and  voted  in  the  affirmative.  The  resolution  was 
carried,  and  destroyed  the  effect  of  the  first  resolution. 

You  will  see  by  this  you  have  the  thing  all  wrong. 

Yours  truly,  GEO.  ABERNETHY. 

P.  S. — Dr.  White,  I  think,  was  present ;  am  not  certain.  This  inde 
pendent  government  move  was  a  prominent  scheme  of  Dr.  McLaughlin. 

The  main  question  at  issue  before  the  committee  at  the  Falls  meeting 
was  the  office  of  governor.  Dr.  Bailey  was  in  the  Sandwich  Islands ; 
nothing  was  to  be  feared  from  him ;  but  Dr.  White  was,  to  say  the  least, 
an  impudent  candidate.  I  have  been  informed  that  Dr.  Bailey,  an 
Englishman,  came  to  that  meeting  February  18,  1841,  with  all  his 
French  voters  trained  to  vote  for  himself  for  governor,  and  that  he 
nominated  himself,  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Hines  and  Dr.  Babcock,  for  that 
office,  and  conducted  himself  in  such  a  manner  that  it  disgusted  some, 
and  was  the  means  of  breaking  up  the  proposed  civil  government,  as 
what  Americans  there  were  then  in  the  country  found  they  would  be 
outnumbered  by  the  French  and  English  (which  was  unquestionably 
the  fact),  and  thus  they  would  be  completely  at  the  disposal  of  English 
rule. 

Such  being  the  case,  much  credit  is  due  to  the  men  who  defeated 
that  effort,  and  I  see  no  reason  why  Mr.  Hines,  in  his  account, 
and  as  an  actor  in  those  meetings,  should  attempt  to  give  a 
different  impression,  and  say  that  "the  officers  of  the  squadron  were 
consulted,  and  were  found  to  be  decidedly  opposed  to  the  scheme." 


270  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

(Page  421  of  his  book.)  This  fact  alone,  and  I  have  it  from  an  actor  and 
an  eye-witness  in  the  meeting  referred  to,  is,  to  say  the  least,  strange 
and  unaccountable  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Hines.  He  either  feared  the  influ 
ence  of  Bailey,  or  the  truth,  which  he  withheld  in  the  case,  and  leaves 
a  wrong  impression  upon  the  minds  of  his  readers. 

From  the  sickening,  fawning,  and  contemptible  course  of  Dr.  White, 
the  committee  at  the  Falls  meeting  were  induced  to  yield  the  point  of 
an  organization  without  an  executive  head,  and  by  that  means  got  a 
unanimous  vote  to  call  a  public  meeting  to  organize  a  provisional  gov 
ernment  at  Champoeg,  on  the  2d  of  May,  1843.  This  was  effort  number 
one  of  February  and  June,  1841,  over  again.  Those  of  us  who  com 
menced  this  move  did  not  feel  that  we  had  gained  much,  still  we  hoped 
for  the  best  and  prepared  for  the  worst  as  well  as  the  meeting  at  Cham- 
poeg  on  the  2d  of  May,  1843. 

We  will  let  the  provisional  government  rest  till  the  2d  of  May,  1843, 
while  we  take  a  look  over  the  whole  country,  and  at  the  actors  in  it,  first 
stopping  to  drop  a  tear  at  the  grave  of  our  friends  as  we  proceed.  On  the 
2d  of  February  our  best  and  most  esteemed  friend,  Cornelius  Rogers, 
with  whom  we  had  spent  years  of  the  kindest  confidence  and  friend 
ship,  left  our  house  for  Oregon  City,  as  his  future  residence  and  home, 
with  his  young  wife,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Rev.  David  Leslie,  and  her 
youngest  sister.  They  took  passage  down  the  river  with  W.  W.  Ray 
mond,  a  man  who  came  to  the  country  with  the  re-enforcement  of  the 
mission  of  1839-40.  He  was  at  that  time  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Mission,  in  good  standing.  Dr.  Elijah  White  and  Esquire  Crocker,  of 
Lansingville,  Tompkins  County,  New  York,  were  also  in  the  canoe,  one 
of  the  largest  of  Chinook  manufacturing.  They  arrived  all  safe  at  Can- 
emah.  It  was  let  down  stern  first  by  a  line,  around  a  point  of  rocks 
just  above  the  falls  on  the  Oregon  City  side,  since  blasted  away  for  a 
canal  and  boat  channel.  In  the  eddy  formed  by  the  point  of  rock  a 
large  tree  had  lodged,  forming  a  convenient  landing,  and  occupying  a 
large  portion  of  the  eddy  water,  so  that  it  was  necessary  for  the  canoe 
to  remain  close  to  the  log  for  safety  from  the  swift  current.  There 
were  two  Indians  to  guide  the  canoe  into  this  landing,  one  in  the  bow 
and  one  in  the  stern.  The  one  in  the  stern  escaped  by  jumping  from 
the  canoe  and  catching  upon  a  piece  of  drift-wood  on  a  rock  just  above 
the  fall.  White,  as  the  canoe  came  alongside  of  the  log  upon  which  all 
were  to  land,  being  near  the  bow  of  the  canoe,  and  not  thinking,  or  per 
haps  caring,  for  any  one  but  himself,  jumped  upon  the  side  of  the  canoe, 
and  with  a  spring,  upon  the  log,  before  there  was  time  for  any  one  to 
secure  the  bow  of  the  canoe,  to  prevent  it  from  swinging  into  the  cur 
rent.  The  force  of  White's  spring  upon  the  canoe  to  reach  the  log 


MISSION  STATIONS.  271 

threw  it  into  the  current,  which  was  too  strong  for  Raymond  and  his 
Indians  to  hold,  and  in  a  moment  it  darted  into  the  middle  of  the  chan 
nel,  and  the  next  moment  was  plunged  broadside  over  the  falls,  some 
twenty-five  feet  perpendicular.  The  force  of  the  current  threw  the  canoe 
to  the  bottom  of  the  fall,  right  side  up,  but  the  under-swell  threw  it  back 
to  the  sheet  of  falling  water,  which  filled  and  upset  the  canoe  in  an 
instant.  All  that  went  over  were  lost.  Raymond,  who  had  attempted 
to  hold  the  canoe,  came  over  the  point  of  rocks  (a  difficult  place)  and 
found  White  upon  the  log,  and  that  he  had  made  no  effort  to  relieve  the 
drowning  party. 

Mr.  Hines,  I  see,  gives  a  more  favorable  account  of  this  transaction  for 
White.  I  think  this  the  nearest  correct,  as  Raymond  gave  the  alarm,  and 
a  boat  was  launched,  and  reached  within  ten  feet  of  Mr.  Rogers  before  he 
sank  to  rise  no  more.  His  and  Esquire  Crocker's  bodies  were  found  and 
interred.  Those  of  Mrs.  Rogers  and  her  sister  were  never  found.  Rev. 
G.  Hines,  W.  H.  Gray,  and  Robert  Shortess,  were  appointed  by  Judge 
Babcock  to  appraise  the  estate  of  Mr.  Rogers,  which  was  found  to  be 
worth  about  $800,  clear  of  all  liabilities.  His  heirs  at  law  resided  in 
Utica,  New  York.  Rev.  Harvey  Clark  was  appointed  administrator, 
discharging  that  duty  faithfully,  and  I  think  without  compensation. 
None  of  the  appraisers  received  a  dime  for  their  services.  There  fol 
lowed  this  affliction  a  severe  storm,  and  an  unusually  high  flood  in  the 
Wallamet  River.  The  appraisers  were  detained  several  days  on 
account  of  it,  but  finally  reached  their  homes  in  safety. 

The  Methodist  Mission  had  extended  their  stations  to  Fort  Nas- 
qualla  on  Puget  Sound  and  Clatsop  Plains,  and  made  an  effort  to 
establish  a  mission  station  on  the  Umpqua  River.  At  this  last-named 
place  the  Indians  had  been  prepared  by  the  instructions  they  had 
received  through  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  Jesuit  priests  to 
destroy  Lee  and  Hines,  and  commence  the  slaughter  of  the  settle 
ment.  (See  Hines'  account  of  the  trip,  pages  100  to  110  inclusive,  made 
in  1842.) 

Messrs.  Frost  and  Cowan  had  become  disgusted  with  their  mis 
sionary  calling,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Richmond  had  also  found  his  Nasqualla 
location  not  a  suitable  one,  or  at  least,  he  by  some  means  had  become 
convinced  that  he  could  not  benefit  the  Indians  about  the  fort,  and 
made  up  his  mind  to  leave. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Vicar-General  Brouillet,  of  Wallawalla,  in 
his  attempt  to  prove  that  the  "  Catholic  stations  and  stationary  priests  " 
were  early  in  the  country,  says  "almost  every  Indian  tribe  possessed 
some  Catholic  members"  as  early  as  1840,  and  that  Mr.  Demerse's  labors 
among  the  Cayuses  in  1840  "  had  made  there  a  mission  so  fruitful  that 


272  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

the  Protestant  missionaries  had  got  alarmed  and  feared  that  all  their 
disciples  would  abandon  them  if  he  continued  his  mission  among  them." 
(Page  87  of  "  Protestantism  in  Oregon,"  by.Brouillet.)  Neither  Hines, 
Richmond,  nor  Smith  could  understand  why  it  was  that  the  Indians 
upon  this  coast  and  throughout  the  country  were  so  different  from  the 
accounts  they  had  heard  and  read  of  them  up  to  1840.  In  June,  1853, 
had  either  of  those  gentlemen  picked  up  the  New  York  Freeman?  s 
Journal^  they  would  have  seen  the  statement  that,  as  early  as  1840, 
44  almost  every  Indian  tribe  [on  this  coast]  possessed  some  Catholic 
numbers."  A  little  further  along  they  would  have  been  startled  with 
the  announcement,  that  these  Jesuit  missions  had  become  "  so  fruitful 
that  the  Protestant  missionaries  had  got  alarmed  and  feared  that  all 
their  disciples  would  abandon  them."  This  was  but  the  work  of  two 
years, — from  1838,  late  in  the  fall,  to  1840.  This  was,  without  doubt, 
a  great  triumph,  and  well  does  this  Jesuit  blow  his  trumpet  j  and  well 
he  may,  for  he  had  the  active  aid  of  an  unscrupulous  monopoly  who 
are  said  to  be  attempting  the  same  thing  with  just  such  implements 
upon  their  own  countrymen  in  British  Columbia.  Why,  I  ask,  have 
states  and  countries  in  Europe  found  it  necessary  to  suppress  that  order 
of  the  Roman  Church  ?  And  why  is  England,  to-day,  hesitating  to 
give  this  church  in  particular  the  same  confidence  she  does  to  all 
others  ? 


CHAPTER  XXXY. 

Meetings  to  oppose  organization. — Address  of  the  French-Canadians. — Criticisms  on  it 
by  tbe  author. — The  Jesuits. — Jesuit  oath. — Article  from  the  Cincinnati  Beacon. 

BETWEEN  the  meeting  of  the  committee  of  twelve  at  Wallamet 
Falls,  about  the  16th  of  March,  and  the  called  meeting  by  that  com 
mittee  on  the  2d  of  May,  the  priests  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
were  not  idle.  They  held  two  distinct  meetings,  one  at  the  falls  and 
one  at  Vancouver,  and  two  in  the  French  Prairie  at  the  Catholic  church. 
At  all  of  these  meetings  the  course  to  be  pursued  by  the  company  and 
the  Catholic  and  French  settlers  was  discussed  and  decided.  The  re 
sult  of  these  meetings  and  discussions  can  be  found  on  the  12th  and  13th 
pages  of  the  Oregon  archives.  The  names  of  the  signers  should  have 
been  given.  This  document  seems  to  be  dated  the  4th  of  March,  1843. 
The  meeting  at  Gervais'  was  on  the  first  Monday  of  March.  So  this 
document  seems  to  have  been  prepared  by  our  Jesuit  Blanchet,  just 
about  the  time  the  "  wolf  meeting  "  was  convening,  and  in  anticipa 
tion  of  the  move  for  a  provisional  government.  I  am  certain  it  was 
not  before  any  public  meeting  of  the  settlers,  and  that  it  was  handed 
in  to  the  committee  of  three  appointed  by  the  Legislative  Committee  to 
revise  and  arrange  the  laws  for  the  meeting  on  the  5th  of  July,  1843. 

G.  W.  Le  Breton,  clerk  of  the  Legislative  Committee,  handed  it  in, 
when  it  was  examined  by  the  committee  of  three,  and  handed  back  to 
him  with  the  remark  "  it  was  well  enough  to  keep  it  with  the  public 
papers,  as  it  would  show  the  influences  operating,  and  who  were 
opposed  to  our  organization,  and  the  reasons  they  had  for  their  opposi 
tion.  At  the  meeting  of  May  2,  all  the  signers  of  that  document  were 
present  with  their  priests  at  their  head,  and  voted  to  a  man  against  the 
proposed  organization. 

"Address  of  the  Canadian  citizens  of  Oregon  to  the  meeting  at 
Champoeg,  March  4,  1843."  It  will  be  seen  it  should  have  been  dated 
May  2.  This  mistake  simply  shows  that  it  was  prepared  March  4, 
1843,  in  anticipation  of  the  action  of  the  meeting  to  be  held  May  2, 
1843. 

The  address  above  referred  to  is  here  submitted  as  a  matter  of  his 
tory,  and  is  as  follows  : — 

"  We,  the  Canadian  citizens  of  Wallamet,  considering  with  interest 
18 


274  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

and  reflection  the  subject  which  unites  the  people  at  the  present  meet 
ing,  present  to  the  American  citizens,  and  particularly  to  the  gentlemen 
who  called  said  meeting,  the  unanimous  expression  of  our  sentiments 
of  cordiality,  and  desire  of  union  and  inexhaustible  peace  between  all 
the  people,  in  view  of  our  duty  and  the  interest  of  the  new  colony, 
and  declare — 

"  1st.  That  we  wish  for  laws,  or  regulations,  for  the  welfare  of  our 
persons,  and  t^e  security  of  our  property  and  labors. 

"  2d.  That  we  do  not  intend  to  rebel  against  the  measures  of  that 
kind  taken  last  year,  by  a  party  of  the  people  ;  although  we  do  not 
approve  of  certain  regulations,  nor  certain  modes  of  laws,  let  those 
magistrates  finish  their  time. 

li  3d.  That  we  will  not  address  a  new  petition  to  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  because  we  have  our  reasons,  till  the  line  be  decided, 
and  the  frontiers  of  the  States  fixed. 

"  4th.  That  we  are  opposed  to  the  regulations  anticipated,  and  ex 
posed  to  consequences  for  the  quantity,  direction,  etc.,  of  lands,  and 
whatsoever  expense  for  the  same  lands,  because  we  have  no  direct 
guaranty  from  the  government  to  come,  and,  perhaps,  to-morrow,  all 
those  measures  may  be  broken. 

"  5th.  That  we  do  not  wish  a  provisional  mode  of  government,  too 
self-interested,  and  full  of  degrees,  useless  to  our  power,  and  overload 
ing  the  colony  instead  of  improving  it ;  besides,  men  of  laws  and 
science  are  too  scarce,  and  have  too  much  to  do  in  such  a  new  country. 

"  6th.  That  we  wish  either  the  mode  of  senate  or  council  to  judge  the 
difficulties,  punish  the  crimes  (except  capital  penalties),  and  make  the 
regulations  suitable  for  the  people. 

"  7th.  That  the  same  council  be  elected  and  composed  of  members 
from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  should  act  in  body,  on  the  plan  of 
civilized  countries  in  parliament,  or  as  a  jury,  and  to  be  represented, 
for  example,  by  the  president  of  said  council,  and  another  member,  as 
a  judge  of  peace,  in  each  county,  allowing  the  principle  of  recalling  to 
the  whole  senate. 

"  8th.  That  the  members  should  be  influenced  to  interest  themselves 
to  their  own  welfare,  and  that  of  the  public,  by  the  love  of  doing  good, 
rather  than  by  the  hope  of  gain,  in  order  to  take  off  from  the  esteem  of 
the  people  all  suspicions  of  interest  in  the  persons  of  their  representa 
tives. 

"  9th.  That  they  must  avoid  every  law  loading  and  inexpedient  to 
the  people,  especially  to  the  new  arrivals.  Unnecessary  taxes,  and 
whatever  records  are  of  that  kind,  we  do  not  want  them. 

"  10th.  That  the  militia  is  useless  at  present,  and  rather  a  danger  of 


REVIEW   OF  RESOLUTIONS. 

bad  suspicion  to  the  Indians  and  a  delay  for  the  necessary  labors;  at 
the  same  time,  it  is  a  load ;  we  do  not  want  it,  either,  at  present. 

"  llth.  That  we  consider  the  country  free,  at  present,  to  all  nations, 
till  government  shall  have  decided ;  open  to  every  individual  wishing 
to  settle,  without  any  distinction  of  origin,  and  without  asking  him 
any  thing,  either  to  become  an  English,  Spanish,  or  American  citizen. 

"  12th.  So  we,  English  subjects,  proclaim  to  be  free,  as  well  as  those 
who  came  from  France,  California,  United  States,  or  even  natives  of 
this  country  ;  and  we  desire  unison  with  all  the  respectable  citizens  who 
wish  to  settle  in  this  country  ;  or  we  ask  to  be  recognized  as  free  among 
ourselves,  to  make  such  regulations  as  appear  suitable  to  our  wants, 
save  the  general  interest  of  having  justice  from  all  strangers  who  might 
injure  us,  and  that  our  reasonable  customs  and  pretensions  be  respected. 

"  13th.  That  we  are  willing  to  submit  to  any  lawful  government 
when  it  comes. 

"  14th.  That  we  do  not  forget  that  we  must  make  laws  only  for  neces 
sary  circumstances.  The  more  laws  there  are,  the  more  opportunities 
for  roguery  for  those  who  make  a  practice  of  it;  and,  perhaps,  the  more 
alterations  there  will  be  some  day. 

"  15th.  That  we  do  not  forget  in  a  trial  that  before  all  fraud  on  ful 
filling  of  some  points  of  the  law,  the  ordinary  proofs  of  the  certainty  of 
the  fact  ought  to  be  duly  weighed,  so  that  justice  may  be  done,  and  no 
shame  given  for  fraud. 

"  16th.  In  a  new  country  the  more  men  employed  and  paid  by  the 
public,  the  less  remains  of  industry. 

"  17th.  That  no  one  can  be  more  desirous  than  we  are  for  the  pros 
perity,  ameliorations,  and  general  peace  of  the  country,  and  especially 
for  the  guaranty  of  our  rights  and  liberties;  and  such  is  the  wish  we 
make  for  all  those  who  are,  or  may  become,  our  fellow-countrymen, 
etc.,  for  long  years  of  peace." 

Then  follow  our  names  and  persons. 

Which,  if  our  memory  is  correct,  were  not  given  or  signed  to  the 
original  document,  for,  if  they  had  been,  the  document  would  have  been 
noticed  in  the  legislative  proceedings,  and  some  action  taken  upon  it. 
It  was  considered  by  the  revising  committee,  as  an  expression  of  the 
feelings  of  the  subjects  named  in  the  twelfth  paragraph,  and  that  while 
they  were  opposed  to  the  proposed  organization  they  would  act  as  per 
thirteenth  paragraph.  The  second  paragraph  indicates  an  approval 
of  previous  political  action.  The  third,  their  opposition  to  a  connection 
with  the  United  States.  The  fourth,  their  decided  opposition  to  the 
proposed  government.  The  fifth  is  a  reason,  and  shows  that  they  had 
no  confidence  in  the  ability  of  the  people  to  make  laws  for  themselves. 


276  HISTORY  OF  OREGOX. 

The  sixth  indicates  a  preference  for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  mode 
of  government.  The  seventh  shows  a  leaning  to  republican  ideas  of 
government.  The  eighth  to  the  government  of  the  country  by  the 
clergymen  in  it.  The  ninth,  opposition  to  taxes  which  the  French,  or 
the  class  represented  in  that  protest,  continually  manifested  in  refusing 
to  pay  until  compelled  by  legal  or  superior  force.  The  tenth  shows 
that  they  considered  themselves  safe  from  Indian  hostility,  and  were 
only  anxious  to  expose  the  weakness  of  the  settlement  by  avoiding  a 
show  of  military  strength.  The  eleventh  affirms  the  freedom  of  the 
country  to  all,  and  their  right  to  occupy  it  without  interference.  The 
fourteenth,  a  childish  reason  against  restraint.  The  fifteenth  is  con 
siderably  mixed ;  it  is  advisory.  We  admit  that  the  object  of  it  is 
beyond  our  comprehension.  The  sixteenth  looks  to  one  man,  or  clerical 
rule.  The  seventeenth  shows  the  ecclesiastical  origin  of  the  document, 
and  a  suspicion  that  in  the  future  their  conduct  may  be  such  that  they 
may  require  a  "  guaranty"  of  their  rights  and  liberties. 

We  have  an  article,  published  in  the  Cincinnati  Beacon,  August, 
1843,  giving  the  oath  taken  by  the  Jesuits,  and  a  short  account  of  their 
objects  and  proceedings,  which,  as  they  had  been  introduced  into 
Oregon  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  1838,  and  commenced  their 
operations  as  in  the  above  document,  we  will  copy  the  article  entire,  as 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  the  part  taken  by  them  in  the  settle 
ment  of  this  country  : — 

"  The  order  of  Jesuits  was  established  by  Loyola  in  1535,  having  for 
its  object  the  re-establishment  of  the  pope's  sway  over  the  civil  powers 
of  the  earth. 

"  At  that  time  it  was  found  that  a  mighty  effort  was  needed  to  regain 
to  the  pope  what  he  had  just  lost  by  the  Reformation,  and  this  order 
was  established  for  that  object.  Members  of  that  society  may  be  of  any 
profession  or  of  no  profession,  as  they  choose,  and  as  best  suits  the 
object.  They  may  prosecute  their  own  business  as  merchants  in  foreign 
countries,  or  serve  in  the  meanest  capacity,  provided  they  can  by  stealth 
exercise  some  destructive  influence  on  any  or  every  form  of  government 
except  that  under  the  'sacred  confirmation  of  the  pope.' 

"  A  dispensation  is  granted  them,  i.  e.,  permission  to  lay  aside  all  pro 
fessions  of  regard  to  the  Papal  cause,  and  make  outward  professions  to 
any  religion  or  government  they  choose,  if  by  so  doing  they  can  better 
1  do  their  utmost  to  EXTIRPATE  the  heretical  Protestant  doctrine,  and 
destroy  all  its  pretended  powers,  REGAL  or  otherwise? 

"  Of  course  they  were  soon  found  in  all  the  political  intrigues  which 
so  long  distracted  Europe.  This  is  a  prominent  fact  on  the  page  of 
history.  One  after  another  of  the  European  powers  became  aware  of 


JESUITS'   OATH.  07-7- 

this,  and  each,  especially  of  the  Protestant  powers,  when  their  intrigues 
could  no  longer  be  endured,  banished  the  Jesuits  as  seen  above.  We 
may  add  Oregon  as  another  special  field  of  their  operations  since  1838. 

"  The  Jesuits  are  the  most  active  and  efficient  agents  of  Popery  in 
propagating  the  Catholic  religion  in  foreign  countries.  In  the  follow 
ing  oath  we  notice : — 

"  1.  An  acknowledgment  that  Protestant  governments  are  illegal, 
without  the  "sacred  confirmation'  of  the  pope,  and  may  safely  be 
destroyed. 

"  2.  A  renunciation  of  'any  allegiance  as  due  to  any  heretical '  state, 
named  Protestants. 

"  3.  A  solemn  pledge  to  do  their  utmost  to  '  destroy  all  their  pre 
tended  powers,  regal  or  otherwise.' 

"  Comment  on  the  relations  which  these  agents  of  the  pope  sustain 
to  our  Protestant  government  is  needless. 

"  The  Oath  of  Secrecy  of  the  Jesuits. 

"  '  I,  A.  B.,  now  in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God,  the  blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  the  blessed  Michael  the  Archangel,  the  blessed  St.  John  Baptist, 
the  holy  apostles  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and  the  saints  and  sacred 
hosts  of  heaven,  and  of  you  my  ghostly  father,  do  declare  from  my 
heart,  without  mental  reservation,  that  his  holiness  the  Pope  Urban  is 
Christ's  vicar-general,  and  is  the  true  and  only  head  of  the  Catholic  or 
Universal  Church  throughout  the  earth ;  and  that,  by  the  virtue  of  the 
keys  of  binding  and  loosing  given  to  his  holiness  by  my  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  he  hath  power  to  depose  heretical  kings,  princes,  states,  com 
monwealths,  and  governments,  all  being  illegal  without  his  sacred  con 
firm  ation,  and  thatthey  may  safely  be  destroyed ;  therefore,  to  th  eut- 
most  of  my  power,  I  shall  and  will  defend  this  doctrine,  and  his  holi 
ness'  rights  and  customs,  against  all  usurpers  of  the  heretical  (or  Pro 
testant)  authority  whatsoever;  especially  against  the  now  pretended 
authority  and  Church  of  England,  and  all  adherents,  in  regard  that  they 
and  she  be  usurpal  and  heretical,  opposing  the  sacred  mother  church 
of  Rome.  I  do  renounce  and  disown  any  allegiance  as  due  to  any 
heretical  king,  prince,  or  state,  named  Protestant,  or  obedience  to  any 
of  their  inferior  magistrates  or  officers.  I  do  further  declare,  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England,  of  the  Calvinists,  Huguenots,  and 
of  others  of  the  name  of  Protestant,  to  be  damnable,  and  they  them 
selves  are  damned,  and  to  be  damned,  that  will  not  forsake  the  same ; 
I  do  further  declare,  that  I  will  help,  assist,  and  adA7ise  all  or  any  of 
his  holiness'  agents  in  any  place  wherever  I  shall  be,  in  England,  Scot 
land,  and  Ireland,  or  in  any  other  territory  or  kingdom  I  shall  come  to, 


278  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

and  do  my  utmost  to  extirpate  the  heretical  Protestant  doctrine,  and 
to  destroy  all  its  pretended  powers,  regal  or  otherwise.  I  do  further 
promise  and  declare,  that  notwithstanding  I  am  dispensed  with,  to  as 
sume  any  religion  heretical,  for  the  propagating  of  the  mother  church's 
interests,  to  keep  secret  and  private  all  her  agents'  counsels  from  time 
to  time,  as  they  intrust  me,  and  not  to  divulge,  directly  or  indirectly, 
by  word,  writing,  or  circumstance  whatsoever ;  but  to  execute  all  that 
shall  be  proposed,  given  in  charge,  or  discovered  unto  me,  by  you,  my 
ghostly  father,  or  any  of  this  sacred  convent.  All  which  I,  A.  B.,  do 
swear,  by  the  blessed  Trinity,  and  blessed  Sacrament,  which  I  am  now 
to  receive,  to  perform,  and  on  my  part  to  keep  inviolably  :  and  do  call 
all  the  heavenly  and  glorious  host  of  heaven  to  witness  these  my  real 
intentions,  to  keep  this  my  oath.  In  testimony  hereof,  I  take  this  most 
holy  and  blessed  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist;  and  witness  the  same 
further  with  my  hand  and  seal,  in  the  face  of  this  holy  convent,  this 
day  of  Anno  Domini,  etc.' 

"  The  Jesuits  were  banished  from  England  in  1606.  They  were  ex 
pelled  from  France,  A.  D.  1764  ;  from  Spain  and  Sicily,  A.  D.  1767  ;  from 
Portugal,  A.  D.  1789  ;  and  totally  suppressed  by  Pope  Clement  XIV., 
A.  D.  1773.  Everywhere  they  were  prosecuted  and  repelled  as  injurious 
to  youth,  and  dangerous  to  all  existing  forms  of  government.  The 
present  pope  has  revived  the  order,  and  now  we  find  the  Jesuits 
secretly  and  openly  engaged  again  in  their  pernicious  and  wicked 
devices  to  re-establish  his  power  in  the  United  States,  and  in  the 
Canadas." 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

The  meeting  at  Champoeg. — Tactics  of  the  Jesuit  party. — Counter-tactics  of  the  Ameri 
cans. — A  division  and  its  result. — Public  record. — Opposition  to  clergymen  as 
legislators. — Mr.  Hines  as  an  historian. — His  errors. — Importance  of  Mr.  Hines1 
history. — Extract. — Difficulty  among  the  Indians. — Cause  of  the  difficulty. 

THE  2d  of  May,  the  day  fixed  by  the  committee  of  twelve  to  organ 
ize  a  settlers'  government,  was  close  at  hand.  The  Indians  had  all 
learned  that  the  "Bostons"  were  going  to  have  a  big  meeting,  and  they 
also  knew  that  the  English  and  French  were  going  to  meet  with  them, 
to  oppose  what  the  "  Bostons"  were  going  to  do.  The  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  had  drilled  and  trained  their  voters  for  the  occasion,  under 
the  Rev.  F.  N.  Blanchet  and  his  priests,  and  they  were  promptly  on  the 
ground  in  the  open  field  near  a  small  house,  and,  to  the  amusement  of 
every  American  present,  trained  to  vote  "No"  to  every  motion  put;  no 
matter,  if  to  carry  their  point  they  should  have  voted  "  Yes,"  it  was 
"  No."  Le  Breton  had  informed  the  committee,  and  the  Americans 
generally,  that  this  would  be  the  course  pursued,  according  to  instruc 
tions,  hence  our  motions  were  made  to  test  their  knowledge  of  what 
they  were  doing,  and  we  found  just  what  we  expected  was  the  case. 
The  priest  was  not  prepared  for  our  manner  of  meeting  them,  and,  as 
the  record  shows,  "  considerable  confusion  was  existing  in  consequence." 
By  this  time  we  had  counted  votes.  Says  Le  Breton,  "  We  can  risk  it ; 
let  us  divide  and  count."  "  I  second  that  motion,"  says  Gray.  "  Who's 
for  a  divide  ?"  sang  out  old  Joe  Meek,  as  he  stepped  out ;  "  all  for  the 
report  of  the  committee  and  an  organization,  follow  me."  This  was  so 
sudden  and  unexpected  that  the  priest  and  his  voters  did  not  know 
what  to  do,  but  every  American  was  soon  in  line.  Le  Breton  and 
Gray  passed  the  line  and  counted  fifty-two  Americans,  and  but  fifty 
French  and  Hudson's  Bay  Company  men.  Tljey  announced  the  count 
— "  fifty-two  for,  and  fifty  against."  "  Three  cheers  for  our  side,"  sang 
out  old  Joe  Meek.  Not  one  of  those  old  veteran  mountain  voices  were 
lacking  in  that  shout  for  liberty.  They  were  given  with  a  will,  and  in 
a  few  seconds  the  chairman,  Judge  I.  L.  Babcock,  called  the  meeting  to 
order,  when  the  priest  and  his"  band  slunk  away  into  the  corners  of  the 
fences,  and  in  a  short  time  mounted  their  horses  and  left. 

The  minutes  of  the  meeting  are  as  follows  : — 


2SO  HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 

"  At  a  public  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Wallamet  settlements, 
held  in  accordance  with  the  call  of  the  committee,  chosen  at  a  former 
meeting,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  steps  to  organize  themselves  into  a 
civil  community,  and  provide  themselves  with  the  protection  secured 
by  the  enforcement  of  law  and  order,  Dr.  I.  L.  Babcock  was  chosen 
chairman,  and  Messrs.  Gray,  Le  Breton,  and  Wilson,  secretaries. 

"The  committee  made  their  report,  which  was  read,  and  a  motion 
was  made  that  it  be  accepted,  which  was  lost. 

"  Considerable  confusion  existing  in  consequence,  it  was  moved  by  Mr. 
Le  Breton,  and  seconded  by  Mr.  Gray,  that  the  meeting  divide,  pre 
paratory  to  being  counted ;  those  in  favor  of  the  objects  of  this  meet 
ing  taking  the  right,  and  those  of  a  contrary  mind  taking  the  left, 
which  being  carried  by  acclamation,  and  a  majority  being  found  in 
favor  of  organization,  the  greater  part  of  the  dissenters  withdrew. 

"It  was  then  moved  and  carried,  that  the  report  of  the  committee  be 
taken  up  and  disposed  of  article  by  article. 

"A  motion  was  made  and  carried,  that  a  supreme  judge,  with  pro- 
1  bate  powers,  be  chosen  to  officiate  in  this  community. 

"  Moved  and  carried,  that  a  clerk  of  the  court,  or  recorder,  be  chosen. 

"  Aloved  and  carried,  that  a  sheriff  be  chosen. 

"  Moved  and  carried,  that  three  magistrates  be  chosen. 

"  Moved  and  carried,  that  three  constables  be  chosen. 

"Moved  and  carried,  that  a  committee  of  nine  persons  be  chosen,  for 
the  purpose  of  drafting  a  code  of  laws  for  the  government  of  this  com 
munity,  to  be  presented  to  a  public  meeting  to  be  hereafter  called  by 
them,  for  their  acceptance. 

"  A  motion  was  made  and  carried,  that  a  treasurer  be  chosen. 

"  Moved  and  carried,  that  a  major  and  three  captains  be  chosen. 

"  Moved  and  carried,  that  we  now  proceed  to  choose  the  persons  1;o 
fill  the  various  offices  by  ballot. 

"A.  E.  Wilson  was  chosen  to  act  as  supreme  judge,  with  probate 
powers;  G.  W.  Le  Breton  was  chosen  to  act  as  clerk  of  court,  and 
recorder ;  J.  L.  Meek  was  chosen  to  fill  the  office  of  sheriff;  W.  H. 
Wilson  was  chosen  treasurer. 

"Moved  and  carried,  that  the  remainder  of  the  officers  be  chosen  by 
hand  ballot,  and  nomination  from  the  floor. 

"Messrs.  Hill,  Shortess,  Newell,  Beers,  Hubbard,  Gray,  O'Neil,  Moore, 
and  Dougherty,  were  chosen  to  act  as  Legislative  Committee ;  Messrs. 
Burns,  Judson,  and  A.  B.  Smith  were  chosen  to  act  as  magistrates  ; 
Messrs.  Ebbets,  Bridgers,  and  Lewis,  were  chosen  to  act  as  constables  ; 
Mr.  John  Howard  was  chosen  major ;  Messrs.  Wm.  McCarty,  C.  Mc- 
Roy,  and  S.  Smith  were  chosen  captains. 


CONSTABLES  AND   MAGISTRATES.  281 

"  Moved  and  carried,  that  the  Legislative  Committee  make  their 
report  on  the  5th  day  of  July  next,  at  Champoeg. 

"  Moved  and  carried,  that  the  services  of  the  Legislative  Committee 
be  paid  for  at  $1.25  per  day,  and  that  the  money  be  raised  by  subscrip 
tion. 

"  Moved  and  carried,  that  the  major  and  captains  be  instructed  to 
enlist  men  to  form  companies  of  mounted  riflemen. 

"  Moved  and  carried,  that  an  additional  constable  and  magistrate  be 
chosen. 

"  Mr.  Compo  was  chosen  as  an  additional  magistrate.  Mr.  Matthew 
was  chosen  as  an  additional  constable. 

"  Moved  and  carried,  that  the  Legislative  Committee  shall  not  sit 
over  six  days. 

"  The  meeting  was  then  adjourned. 

"The  question  having  arisen  with  regard  to  what  time  the  newly- 
appointed  officers  should  commence  their  duties,  the  meeting  was  again 
called  to  order,  when  it  was  moved  and  carried,  that  the  old  officers 
act  till  the  laws  are  made  and  accepted,  or  until  the  next  public 
meeting. 

"  Attest, 

"  G.  W.  LE  BBETON." 

It  will  be  remembered  by  those  present,  that  in  the  appointment  of 
the  members  of  the  Legislative  Committee,  Rev.  J.  S.  Griffin  was  named 
as  one  of  the  committee.  I  am  not  positive  that  Mr.  Griffin  was  present, 
but  T  remember  that  his  nomination  was  opposed,  or  any  clergyman  of 
any  denomination  having  any  thing  to  do  with  making  laws  for  the  set 
tlers.  It  was  stated  as  a  reason,  that  their  duties  and  calling  were  not 
such  as  qualified  them  to  enact  laws  adapted  to  a  promiscuous  commu 
nity;  they,  as  a  matter  of  conscience  and  duty  to  what  they,  as  a  general 
thing,  considered  higher  laws,  disqualified  themselves  to  enter  the  halls 
of  legislation  as  law-makers.  Besides,  the  settlers  had  once  placed  it 
in  their  hands  and  requested  them  to  aid  in  the  enactment  of  suitable 
laws  for  the  government  and  protection  of  the  settlement.  This 
request  they  had  neglected  and  refused  to  comply  with,  and  we  had 
before  us  the  example  and  influence  of  one  who  had  openly  opposed 
our  effort.  In  placing  upon  this  committee  a  reverend  gentleman  from 
one  denomination,  we,  as  a  matter  of  courtesy,  must  do  the  same  to 
another,  and,  as  in  the  former  case,  we  would  be  liable  to  be  defeated. 
Mr.  Griffin  did  not  receive  a  single  vote,  without  it  was  that  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Kone,  from  Clatsop,  who,  I  think,  was  present. 

We  will  now  leave  the  Legislative  Committee  to  do  their  business,  as 


282  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

per  instructions,  and  see  what  our  very  officious  Indian  agent  and  his 
friend,  Rev.  Mr.  Hines,  are  about. 

During  the  fall  of  1842  and  winter  and  spring  of  1843,  "our  plot 
thickens."  We  must  go  back  a  little,  and  notice,  among  other  things,  that 
as  soon  as  Uncle  Samuel's  exploring  squadron  had  looked  at  Oregon  a 
little  and  Dr.  McLaughlin's  good  liquors  more  (when  the  infirmities  of 
the  stomach  required  something  stronger  than  water),  and  had  found 
occasion  to  express  great  praise  of  the  kind  treatment  and  generosity 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  they  also  found  it  convenient  to  sanc 
tion  the  opposition  to  a  temporary  government  for  jhe  settlement, — at 
least,  Mr.  Hines  tells  us  they  opposed  it, — and  leave  the  company  to 
continue  their  kicking  and  changing  the  bushel,  calling  in  their  cattle 
and  pay  for  all  lost,  and  enter  vigorously  upon  a  settled  system  of 
opposition  to  all  American  settlements  in  the  country.  Their  Jesuit 
missions  were  doing  them  good  service  in  the  interior.  Their  clerks 
and  interpreters  were  ready  to  do  their  part.  The  puff-ball  of  folly 
and  ignorance,  in  the  shape  of  a  sub-Indian  agent,  had  been  among  the 
Indians,  who  were  made  to  believe  from  his  foolish  statements, — con 
firmed  or  made  worse  by  such  old  liars  as  Toupin,  as  in  the  case  of 
Parker, — that  the  great  parent  was  going  to  make  them  wise  and  rich, 
and  give  them  all  they  wanted,  if  they  would  adopt  his  advice,  and  do 
as  he  wished  them.  All  things  combined  aroused  Mr.  Hines  to  the 
solemn  conclusion  that  it  was  his  duty  to  volunteer  and  go  with  our 
sub-Indian  agent,  and  assist  him  in  pacifying  the  Indians.  I  suppose 
he  must  have  gone  in  the  capacity  of  prime  minister  or  secretary  of 
state.  He  says,  page  146:  "In  the  evening  of  the  17th,  Dr.  White 
arrived  at  my  house,  bringing  intelligence  from  the  falls."  Le  Breton 
returned  the  next  day,  and  reported  that  Anderson's  horse  was  stolen 
by  an  Indian, — the  same  that  had  stolen  one  from  Mr.  Hines  two  years 
before.  Hines  had  the  courage  to  go  and  get  his  horse,  but  Anderson, 
who  was  a  Swede,  had  not.  This  transaction,  it  will  be  remembered, 
was  on  April  17,  a  month  after  the  organizing  committee  of  twelve  had 
been  appointed  at  Gervais'.  White  and  Hines  are  in  council  at  Hines' 
house.  The  visit  to  the  interior  tribes  is  before  the  council.  White 
had  been  up  among  the  Nez  Perces  and  Cayuses  in  the  fall  of  1842,  and 
with  the  aid  of  McKay  (who  was  the  most  reliable  half-native  servant 
the  company  ever  had),  the  Indians  were  induced  to  form  a  combina 
tion,  exactly  such  a  one  as  Frank  Ermatinger,  in  1 838,  told  the  writer 
the  company  would  form,  with  the  aid  of  their  half-breed  servants,  to 
resist  the  occupancy  of  the  country  by  the  American  government. 
Mr.  Hines'  stupidity  led  him  to  believe  this  was  the  policy  of  White, 
and  not  that  of  the  company.  He  says,  at  the  bottom  of  page  142 : 


NO  CONFIDENCE  IN  DR.  WHITE.  283 

4<  It  had  been  the  policy  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  destroy  the 
chieftainship,  cut  the  different  tribes  into  small  clans,  and  divide  their 
interests  as  far  as  possible,  so  as  to  weaken  them,  and  render  them 
incapable  of  injuring  the  whites,  thus  preventing  them  from  acting 
in  concert."  At  the  time  this  policy  was  adopted  by  the  company 
there  were  no  whites  in  the  country  but  themselves.  Mr.  Hines  be 
lieves  that  the  American  settlement  was  to  be  benefited  by  this  shrewd 
policy  of  the  company,  and  attributes  to  Dr.  White  the  opposite 
policy.  He  says,  page  143,  that  "  the  sub-agent  adopted  a  different 
policy." 

How  natural  and  how  easy  for  his  reverence  to  fall  into  this  error, 
and  to  say,  on  page  142,  "Thomas  McKay  contributed  much  to  allay 
the  excitement  among  them,  and,  in  connection  with  the  sub-agent,  in 
duced  the  natives  to  adopt  a  code  of  laws  and  appoint  a  head  chief,  and 
inferior  chiefs,  sufficient  to  carry  the  laws  into  execution."  Not  the 
least  suspicion  of  McKay's  instructions  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany's  arrangements  and  consent  in  the  matter,  and  that  the  sub-agent 
was  the  very  man  the  company  was  making  use  of  to  get  their  own 
trained  and  educated  Indian  (Ellis)  at  the  head  of  the  Nez  Perce  tribe, 
to  accomplish  the  object  they  had  in  view.  Mr.  Hines  has  given  us  a 
good  history,  for  which  we  thank  him  in  behalf  of  truth,  and  also  foi 
the  assistance  it  has  given  us  in  showing  to  the  world  the  damning 
policy,  the  accursed  influences  brought  to  bear  against  the  little  band 
of  patriots  that  had  the  courage  to  contend  against  such  fearful  combi 
nations  of  avarice,  stupidity,  superstition,  and  savagism ;  and  here 
allow  me  to  say,  is  the  reason  that  Whitman,  Harvey  Clark,  Shortess, 
Smith,  Cornelius  Rogers,  J.  L.  Meek,  Couch,  and  fifty  others,  had  no 
confidence  in  White  or  his  advisers  and  frien,ds. 

Le  Breton  acted  well  his  part ;  the  company  knew  him  better  than 
Mr.  Hines  did ;  his  de,ath  was  a  victory,  as  they  supposed,  to  them,  but 
the  effort  moved  on.  The  act  of  a  few  Indians,  in  going  to  St.  Louis  in 
1832,  for  religious  knowledge,  brought  Mr.  Hines  to  the  country  with 
others  more  capable  of  meeting  the  combined  influences  of  avarice,  stu 
pidity,  bigotry,  and  superstition. 

And  although  many  things  have  combined  to  keep  them  from  any 
pecuniary  reward,  still  facts,  and  the  history  of  the  country  they  have 
saved  as  the  golden  gem  of  our  great  Republic,  will  seek  to  know  who 
it  was  whose  efforts  could  successfully  contend  with  such  influences  as 
were  then  held  by  the  company,  the  Jesuit  priests,  Dr.  White,  and  the 
Methodist  Mission.  We  now  know  why  our  little  settlement  wept  and 
mourned  the  death  of  Rogers,  Le  Breton,  and  Whitman,  as  they  were 
substantial  pillars  in  our  temple  of  liberty  on  this  coast.  Does  a  simple 


284  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

slab  mark  the  place  of  their  rest  ?  Their  surviving  associates  are  not 
able  to  answer  in  the  affirmative. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  while  Dr.  Whitman  was  on  his  way  to 
Washington,  Dr.  White  and  Thomas  McKay  visited  the  Indians  in  the 
interior,  in  October,  1842, — about  one  month  after  Dr.  Whitman  had 
left  for  the  States.  Mr.  Spalding  was  really  more  stupid  than  Mr. 
Hines  in  all  matters  of  policy  and  deep-laid  plans  to  accomplish  any 
object.  His  courage  was  strong  in  ignorance  of  danger.  Mr.  Hines 
had  personal  courage,  but  his  self-esteem  was  unbounded.  Dr.  White 
was  shrewd  enough  to  make  use  of  both.  Mr.  Spalding  was  taken  with 
Dr.  White's  smooth  milk-and-water  false  statements  about  his  office, 
powers,  and  duties.  He  wras  led  to  believe  that  White  had  all  the 
powers  he  professed  to  have,  and  lent  his  influence  to  McKay  to  organ 
ize  and  combine  the  Indian  tribes,  supposing  all  the  while  he  was  doing 
it  for  Dr.  White  and  the  American  cause. 

Messrs.  Hines  and  Spalding  were  alike  in  this  particular.  The  reader 
will  not  forget  that  I  am  speaking  of  men  and  their  actions,  and  the 
influence  they  had  at  a  certain  time,  and  the  effect  of  those  actions 
upon  the  Indians  and  the  religious,  political,  and  general  interests  of 
the  country.  Personally,  I  have  no  malice  against  a  single  man  of 
whom  I  write ;  many  of  them  I  know  are  dead,  and  at  the  proper  time 
I  will  give  you  as  faithful  an  account  of  their  good  deeds  as  I  now  do 
of  their  errors.  Besides,  I  hope  the  children  and  friends  of  all  of  whom 
I  write,  will,  see  and  feel  the  virtue  there  is  in  doing  right  at  all  times, 
and,  as  we  are  told,  "  try  the  spirits,"  or  persons,  "  to  know  whether 
they  are  good  or  evil." 

A  large  portion  of  the  ninth  chapter  of  Mr.  Hines'  book  is  too  im 
portant  in  illustrating  truth  to  be  omitted  in  a  history  such  as  we  are 
giving.  The  reader  will  understand  the  observations  we  have  to  make, 
bearing  in  mind  that  all  these  facts  have  an  important  bearing  on  a 
transaction  that  occurred  four  years  later.  He  says : — 

"April  14.  This  settlement  has  been  thrown  into  a  panic  by  intelli 
gence  which  has  just  been  received  from  the  upper  country,  concerning 
the  hostile  intentions  of  the  Cayuse,  Nez  Perec,  and  Wallawalla  In 
dians.  It  appears  that  they  have  again  threatened  the  destruction  of 
the  whites.  Some  time  in  October  last,  Indian  report  said  that  these 
tribes  were  coming  down  to  kill  off  the  'Boston'  people,  meaning  those 
from  the  United  States.  This  intelligence  produced  considerable  ex 
citement  at  the  time,  and  induced  the  sub-agent  of  Indian  affairs  to  go 
directly  to  the  upper  country  and  ascertain  the  truth  of  the  report,  and, 
if  possible,  settle  all  matters  of  difficulty.  On  arriving  among  the  In 
dians,  he  ascertained  that  the  report  was  not  without  foundation,  but 


POLICY  OF  DR.  WHITE  AND   THE    COMPANY.  285 

entered  into  such  arrangements  with  them  as  appeared  to  give  satis 
faction.  Thomas  McKay  contributed  much  to  allay  the  excitement 
among  them,  and,  in  connection  with  the  sub-agent,  induced  the  Nez 
Perces  to  adopt  a  code  of  laws,  and  appoint  a  head  chief  and  inferior 
chiefs,  sufficient  to  carry  the  laws  into  execution. 

"  It  had  been  the  policy  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  destroy 
the  chieftainship,  cut  the  different  tribes  into  smaller  clans,  and  divide 
their  interests  as  far  as  possible,  so  as  to  weaken  them,  and  render 
them  incapable  of  injuring  the  whites,  by  preventing  them  from  acting 
in  concert.  BUT  THE  SUB-AGENT  ADOPTED  A  DIFFERENT  POLICY.  The 
individual  appointed  to  the  high  chieftainship  over  the  JVez  Perces 
was  one  Ellis,  as  he  was  called  by  the  English,  who,  having  spent 
several  years  in  the  settlement  on  Red  River,  east  of  the  mountains, 
had,  with  a  smattering  of  the  English  language,  acquired  a  higJi  sense 
of  his  own  importance  ;  and,  consequently,  after  lie  was  appointed 
chief,  pursued  a  very  haughty  and  overbearing  course.  The  fulfillment 
of  the  laws  which  the  agent  recommended  for  their  adoption  was 
required  by  Ellis  with  the  utmost  rigor.  Individuals  were  severely 
punished  for  crimes  which,  from  time  immemorial,  had  been  committed 
by  the  people  with  impunity.  This  occasioned  suspicions  in  the  minds 
of  the  Indians  generally  that  the  whites  designed  the  ultimate  sub 
jugation  of  their  tribes.  They  saw  in  the  laws  they  had  adopted,  a 
deep-laid  scheme  of  the  whites  to  destroy  them,  and  take  possession 
of  their  country.  The  arrival  of  a  large  party  of  emigrants  about 
this  time,  and  the  sudden  departure  of  Dr.  Whitman  to  the  United 
States,  with  the  avowed  intention  of  bringing  back  with  him  as  many 
as  he  could  enlist  for  Oregon,  served  to  hasten  them  to  the  above  con 
clusion.  That  a  great  excitement  existed  among  the  Indians  in  the 
interior,  and  that  they  designed  to  make  war  upon  the  settlement, 
was  only  known  to  the  whites  through  the  medium  of  vague  report, 
until  a  letter  was  received  from  H.  K.  W.  Perkins,  at  the  Dalles,  in 
which  he  informed  us  that  the  Wascopum  and  Wallawalla  Indians 
had  communicated  to  him  in  substance  the  following  information : 
That  the  Indians  are  very  much  exasperated  against  the  whites,  in  con 
sequence  of  so  many  of  the  latter  coming  into  the  country,  to  destroy 
their  game  and  take  away  their  lands ;  that  the  Nez  Perces  dispatched 
one  of  their  chiefs  last  winter  on  snow-shoes,  to  visit  the  Indians  in 
the  buffalo  country  east  of  Fort  Hall,  for  the  purpose  of  exciting  them 
to  cut  off  the  party  that  it  is  expected  Dr.  Whitman  will  bring  back 
with  him  to  settle  the  Nez  Perce  country ;  that  the  Indians  are  en 
deavoring  to  form  a  general  coalition  for  the  purpose  of  destroying 
all  the  '  Boston '  people ;  that  it  is  not  good  to  kill  a  part  of  them,  and 


2S6  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

leave  the  rest,  but  that  every  one  of  them  must  be  destroyed.  This 
information  produced  a  great  excitement  throughout  the  community, 
and  almost  every  man  had  a  plan  of  his  own  by  which  to  avert  the 
impending  storm.  In  the  estimation  of  some,  the  Indians  were  to  be 
upon  us  immediately,  and  it  was  unsafe  to  retire  at  night,  for  fear  the 
settlement  would  be  attacked  before  morning.  The  plan  of  the  agent 
was  to  induce .  men  to  pledge  themselves,  under  the  forfeiture  of  one 
hundred  dollars  in  case  of  delinquency,  to  keep  constantly  on  hand  and 
ready  for  use  either  a  good  musket  or  rifle,  and  one  hundred  charges 
of  ammunition,  and  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  go  at  the  call 
of  the  agent  to  any  part  of  the  country,  not  to  exceed  two  days'  travel, 
for  the  purpose  of  defending  the  settlement,  and  repelling  any  savage 
invaders.  This  plan  pleased  some  of  the  people,  and  they  put  down 
their  names ;  but  many  were  much  dissatisfied  with  it ;  and  as  we  had 
no  authority,  no  law,  no  order,  for  the  time  being,  in  the  country,  it 
was  impossible  to  tell  what  would  be  the  result,  if  the  Indians  should 
attempt  to  carry  their  threats  into  execution." 

We  have  before  us,  in  these  quotations,  the  facts  of  the  change  of 
policy  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  the  combining  of  the  Nez 
Perec  tribe,  the  supposed  ground  of  complaint  against  the  Americans, 
and  the  failure  of  the  sub-Indian  agent  to  get  the  settlers  to  adopt 
his  plan  for  protecting  the  settlement  against  the  Indians.  We  will 
now  give  the  reasons  the  company  had  for  adopting  the  dividing  and 
cutting-up  policy  among  the  Indians. 

The  reader  is  requested  to  observe  Mr.  Hines'  description  of  Ellis, 
Dr.  White's  Indian  chief.  It  was  this  same  Indian  that  drove  the  Rev. 
A.  B.  Smith  in  1840  from  his  land,  as  stated  by  old  Toupin  on  15th 
page  of  Brouillet's  history  of  the  Whitman  massacre.  Up  to  this  time 
he  was  not  considered  an  important  character  by  the  company,  on 
account  of  his  self-importance  and  insolence.  In  this  respect  he  re 
sembled  Tawatowe,  of  the  Cayuses,  who,  when  he  had  been  promoted  to 
the  head  chieftainship  of  that  tribe,  became  insolent,  and  going  so  far  as 
to  get  possession  of  Fort  Wallawalla,  had  tied  Mr.  P.  C.  Pambrun,  and 
kept  him  tied  till  he  agreed  to  give  the  Indians  better  prices  for  their 
horses  and  furs.  As  soon  as  they  had  liberated  him,  Mr.  Pambrun 
made  a  few  trades  with  them  and  treated  them  kindly,  and  induced 
them  to  leave  the  fort.  He  sent  at  once  to  Vancouver  and  increased 
the  number  of  his  men,  and  told  the  chiefs  that  had  had  him  tied,  that 
he  no  longer  regarded  them  as  chiefs,  and  at  once  commenced  to 
destroy  their  influence  by  refusing  to  give  them  the  accustomed 
presents,  and  gave  them  to  lesser  chiefs,  and  in  that  way  divided  them 
up  and  broke  their  power  as  principal  chiefs. 


INFLUENCE   OF  DR.    WHITE'S   LAWS.  287 

While  the  American  fur  trader,  Captain  Wyeth,  was  in  the  country, 
the  company  had  increased  their  tariff,  and  paid  the  Indians  more  for 
their  horses  and  furs,  but  as  soon  as  he  had  been  driven  from  the 
country,  they  reduced  it  to  their  own  prices.  The  Indians  did  not 
understand  why  the  company  gave  them  so  much  less  than  the 
Americans,  or  Bostons,  did  for  the  same  things. 

The  principal  chiefs  of  the  Nez  Perces  and  Cayuses  were  together  in 
the  attempt  to  get  better  pay  for  the  property  they  sold  to  the  com 
pany,  whose  policy  was  to  keep  all  the  principal  men  down,  and  divide 
their  power  and  influence,  and  prevent  any  large  combinations  among 
the  tribes, — thus  making  it  easy  to  control  them.  This  statement  of 
facts  and  policy  I  had  from  Mr.  Pambrun  and  Mr.  Ermatinger,  both  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

Mr.  Hines,  on  page  143,  in  speaking  about  the  laws  adopted  by 
the  Indians,  seems  altogether  to  ignore  the  fact  that  a  desperate  effort 
was  then  being  made  by  the. Hudson's  Bay  Company,  as  the  conduct  of 
the  Indians  plainly  indicated,  to  drive  all  Americans  from  the  country. 
The  unreasonable  punishments  inflicted,  and  all  other  odious  inferences, 
were  the  legitimate  instruments  to  accomplish  a  specific  object.  The 
same  was  the  case  in  the  inferences  drawn  about  Dr.  Whitman's  visit 
to  the  States.  While  Governor  Simpson  sends  on  his  Red  River  set 
tlers,  and  goes  to  Washington  to  secure  the  country  to  the  British 
crown,  Dr.  Whitman  and  his  mission  become  the  special  objects  of  mis 
representation  and  hate  among  the  Indians.  His  mill  and  all  his  grain 
are  burned,  while  a  large  immigration  of  British  subjects  and  the  Jesuit 
missionaries  are  received  with  open  arms.  Dr.  Whitman  and  the  Ameri 
can  settlement  must  be  stopped  at  all  hazards.  "An  Indian  is  sent  on 
snow-shoes  to  the  Buffalo  Indians  east  of  Fort  Hall,  for  the  purpose  of 
exciting  them  to  cut  off  the  party  that  is  expected  with  Dr.  Whitman. 

The  American  government,  according  to  Dr.  White,  is  about  to 
take  possession  of  the  country,  and  had  sent  him  out  as  its  first  gov 
ernor.  He,  to  conciliate  the  Indians,  adopts  all  the  suggestions  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  succeeds  to  his  entire  satisfaction,  with 
the  aid  of  Mr.  McKay.  While  he  can  do  nothing  to  unite  the  settlers 
for  their  own  defense,  the  divide-and-weaken  policy  of  the  company  is 
changed  from  Indians  to  the  American  settlers.  White  and  Hines  are 
equally  useful  to  the  company  in  doing  the  one,  as  they  had  been  suc 
cessful  in  the  other.  That  the  transaction  related  by  Mr.  Hines  on  his 
145th  page,  under  date  of  April  IV,  may  be  better  understood,  we 
will,  in  the  next  chapter,  give  a  copy  of  the  petition  referred  to.  This 
document  is  mostly  the  work  of  Robert  Shortess,  and  was  signed  by 
nearly  every  American  in  the  country  who  had  an  opportunity. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

"Whitman's  visit  to  Washington. — A  priest's  boast. — A  taunt,  and  Whitman's  reply. — 
Arrival  in  Washington. — Interview  with  Secretary  Webster. — With  President 
Tyler. — His  return. — Successful  passage  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  with  two  hun 
dred  wagons. — His  mill  burned  during  his  absence. 

IN  September,  1842,  Dr.  Whitman  was  called  to  visit  a  patient  at  old 
Fort  "Wallawalla.  While  there,  a  number  of  boats  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  with  several  chief  traders  and  Jesuit  priests,  on  their  way  to 
the  interior  of  the  country,  arrived.  While  at  dinner,  the  overland  ex 
press  from  Canada  arrived,  bringing  news  that  the  emigration  from  the 
Red  River  settlement  was  at  Colville.  This  news  excited  unusual  joy 
among  the  guests.  One  of  them — a  young  priest — sang  out:  "Hurrah 
for  Oregon,  America  is  too  late ;  we  have  got  the  country."  "  Now  the 
Americans  may  whistle  ;  the  country  is  ours  !"  said  another. 

Whitman  learned  that  the  company  had  arranged  for  these  Red 
River  English  settlers  to  come  on  to  settle  in  Oregon,  and  at  the  same 
time  Governor  Simpson  was  to  go  to  Washington  and  secure  the  settle 
ment  of  the  question  as  to  the  boundaries,  on  the  ground  of  the  most 
numerous  and  permanent  settlement  in  the  country. 

The  Doctor  was  taunted  with  the  idea  that  no  power  could  prevent 
this  result,  as  no  information  could  reach  Washington  in  time  to  pre 
vent  it.  "  It  shall  be  prevented,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  if  I  have  to  go  to 
Washington  myself."  "  But  you  can  not  go  there  to  do  it,"  was  the 
taunting  reply  of  the  Briton.  "  I  will  see,"  was  the  Doctor's  reply. 
The  reader  is  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  history  of  this  man's  toil 
and  labor  in  bringing  his  first  wagon  through  to  Fort  Boise,  to  under 
stand  what  he  meant  when  he  said,  " I loill  see"  Two  hours  after  this 
conversation  at  the  fort,  he  dismounted  from  his  horse  at  his  door  at 
Wailatpu.  I  saw  in  a  moment  that  he  was  fixed  on  some  important 
object  or  errand.  He  soon  explained  that  a  special  effort  must  be  made 
to  save  the  country  from  becoming  British  territory. 

Every  thing  was  in  the  best  of  order  about  the  station,  and  there 
seemed  to  be  no  important  reason  why  he  should  not  go.  A.  L.  Love- 
joy,  Esq.,  had  a  few  days  before  arrived  with  the  immigration.  It  was 
proposed  that  he  should  accompany  the  Doctor,  which  he  consented  to 
do,  and  in  twenty-four  hours'  time  they  were  well  mounted  and  on 
their  way  to  the  States.  They  reached  Fort  Hall  all  safe ;  kept  south 


DR.   WHITMAN  IN   WASHINGTON.  239 

into  Taos,  and  thence  to  Bent's  Fort?  on  the  Arkansas  River,  when  Mr. 
Lovejoy  became  exhausted  from  toil  and  exposure,  and  stopped  for  the 
winter,  while  the  Doctor  continued  on  and  reached  Washington. 

Thus  far  in  this  narrative  I  give  Dr.  Whitman's,  Mr.  Lovejoy's,  and 
my  own  knowledge.  I  find  an  article  in  the  Pacific  of  November  9, 
from  Mr.  Spalding,  which  gives  us  the  result : — 

"On  reaching  the  settlements,  Dr.  Whitman  found  that  many  of  the 
now  old  Oregonians — Waldo,  Applegate,  Hamtree,  Keizer,  and  others 
— who  had  once  made  calculations  to  come  to  Oregon,  had  abandoned 
the  idea  because  of  the  representations  from  Washington  that  every 
attempt  to  take  wagons  and  ox-teams  through  the  Rocky  and  Blue 
Mountains  to  the  Columbia  had  failed.  Dr.  Whitman  saw  at  once 
what  the  stopping  of  wagons  at  Fort  Hall  every  year  meant.  The 
representations  purported  to  come  from  Secretary  Webster,  but  were 
from  Governor  Simpson,  who,  magnifying  the  statements  of  his  chief 
trader,  Grant,  at  Fort  Hall,  declared  the  Americans  must  be  going 
mad,  from  their  repeated  fruitless  attempts  to  take  wagons  and  teams 
through  the  impassable  regions  to  the  Columbia,  and  that  the  women 
and  children  of  those  wild  fanatics  had  been  saved  from  a  terrible 
death  only  by  the  repeated  and  philanthropic  labors  of  Mr.  Grant,  at 
Fort  Hall,  in  furnishing  them  with  horses.  The  Doctor  told  these  men, 
as  he  met  them,  that  his  only  object  in  crossing  the  mountains  in  the 
dead  of  winter,  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  and  through  untold  sufferings, 
was  to  take  back  an  American  emigration  that"  summer  through  the 
mountains  to  the  Columbia,  with  their  wagons  and  their  teams.  The 
route  was  practicable.  We  had  taken  our  wagon,  our  cattle,  and  our 
families  through,  seven  years  before.  They  had  nothing  to  fear ;  but 
to  be  ready  on  his  return.  The  stopping  of  wagons  at  Fort  Hall  was  a 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  scheme  to  prevent  the  settling  of  the  country 
by  the  Americans,  till  they  could  settle  it  with  their  own  subjects  from 
the  Selkirk  settlement.  This  news  spread  like  wildfire  through  Mis 
souri.  The  Doctor  pushed  on  to  Washington  and  immediately  sought 
an  interview  with  Secretary  Webster, — both  being  from  the  same  State, 
— and  stated  to  him  the  object  of  his  crossing  the  mountains,  and  laid 
before  him  the  great  importance  of  Oregon  to  the  United  States.  But 
Mr.  Webster  lived  too  near  Cape  Cod  to  see  things  in  the  same  light  with 
his  fellow-Statesman  who  had  transferred  his  worldly  interests  to  the 
Pacific  coast.  He  awarded  sincerity  to  the  missionary,  but  could  not 
admit  for  a  moment  that  the  short  residence  of  six  years  could  give 
the  Doctor  the  knowledge  of  the  country  possessed  by  Governor  Simp 
son,  who  had  almost  grown  up  in  the  country,  and  had  traveled  every 
part  of  it,  and  represents  it  as  one  unbroken  waste  of  sand  deserts  and 
19 


290  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

impassable  mountains,  fit  only  for  the  beaver,  the  gray  bear,  and  the 
savage.  Besides,  he  had  about  traded  it  off  with  Governor  Simpson,  to 
go  into  the  Ashburton  treaty,  for  a  cod-fishery  on  Newfoundland. 

"The  Doctor  next  sought  an  interview  with  President  Tyler,  who  at 
once  appreciated  his  solicitude  and  his  timely  representations  of  Ore 
gon,  and  especially  his  disinterested  though  hazardous  undertaking  to 
cross  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  the  winter  to  take  back  a  caravan  of 
wagons.  He  said  that,  although  the  Doctor's  representations  of  the 
character  of  the  country,  and  the  possibility  of  reaching  it  by  a  wagon 
route,  were  in  direct  contradiction  to  those  of  Governor  Simpson,  his 
frozen  limbs  were  sufficient  proof  of  his  sincerity,  and  his  missionary 
character  was  sufficient  guaranty  for  his  honesty,  and  he  would  there 
fore,  as*  President,  rest  upon  these  and  act  accordingly ;  would  detail 
Fremont  with  a  military  force  to  escort  the  Doctor's  caravan  through 
the  mountains ;  and  no  more  action  should  be  had  toward  trading  oif 
Oregon  till  he  could  hear  the  result  of  the  expedition.  If  the  Doctor 
could  establish  a  wagon  route  through  the  mountains  to  the  Columbia 
River,  pronounced  impossible  by  Governors  Simpson  and  Ashburton, 
he  would  use  his  influence  to  hold  on  to  Oregon.  The  great  desire  of 
the  Doctor's  American  soul,  and  Christian  withal,  that  is,  the  pledge 
of  the  President  that  the  swapping  of  Oregon  with  England  for  a  cod- 
fishery  should  stop  for  the  present,  was  attained,  although  at  the  risk 
of  life,  and  through  great  sufferings,  and  unsolicited,  and  without  the 
promise  or  expectation  of  a  dollar's  reward  from  any  source.  And 
now,  God  giving  him  life  and  strength,  he  would  do  the  rest ;  that  is, 
connect  the  Missouri  and  Columbia  rivers  with  a  wagon-track  so  deep 
and  plain  that  neither  national  envy  nor  sectional  fanaticism  would  ever 
blot  it  out*.  And  when  the  5th  of  September,  1843,  saw  the  rear  of  the 
Doctor's  caravan  of  nearly  two  hundred  wagons,  with  which  he  started 
from  Missouri  last  of  April,  emerge  from  the  western  shades  of  the  Blue 
Mountains  upon  the  plains  of  the  Columbia,  the  greatest  work  ever 
accomplished  by  one  man  for  Oregon  was  finished.  And  through  that 
great  emigration  during  that  whole  summer,  the  Doctor  was  their 
everywhere-present  angel  of  mercy,  ministering  to  the  sick,  helping  the 

*  They  reached  Fort  Hall  in  safety,  but  there,  in  the  absence  of  Dr.  Whitman  from 
their  camp,  they  were  told  by  Captain  Grant,  in  the  interest  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany,  as  others  had  been  told  before,  that  it  was  idle  for  wagons  to  attempt  to  reach 
the  Columbia.  For  a  time  there  was  a  heaviness  of  spirit  among  those  families,  which, 
like  the  Israelites  of  old,  had  penetrated  the  depths  of  the  "  great  and  terrible  wilder 
ness."  But  Dr.  Whitman,  on  ascertaining  what  had  happened,  reassured  them  by  his 
bold  and  manly  words,  saying  to  them,  "My  countrymen!  you  have  trusted  me  thus 
far;  believe  me  now,  and  I  will  take  your  wagons  to  Columbia  River  ;"  and  he  did  so, 
and  Oregon  was  saved  by  his  patriotism  to  the  Union. 


DR.   WHITMAN'S   CARE   OF   IMMIGRANTS.  291 

weary,  encouraging  the  wavering,  cheering  the  mothers,  mending 
wagons,  setting  broken  bones,  hunting  stray  oxen,  climbing  precipices  ; 
now  in  the  rear,  now  at  the  front;  in  the  rivers,  looking  out  fords 
through  the  quicksands ;  in  the  deserts,  looking  out  for  water ;  in  the 
dark  mountains,  looking  out  passes  ;  at  noontide  or  midnight,  as  though 
those  thousands  were  his  own  children,  and  those  wagons  and  flocks 
were  his  own  property.  Although  he  asked  not,  nor  expected,  a  dollar 
as  a  reward  from  any  source,  he  felt  himself  abundantly  rewarded 
when  he  saw  the  desire  of  his  heart  accomplished,  the  great  wagon 
route  over  the  mountains  established,  and  Oregon  in  a  fair  way  to  be 
occupied  with  American  settlements  and  American  commerce.  And 
especially  he  felt  himself  doubly  paid,  when,  at  the  end  of  his  success 
ful  expedition,  and  standing  alive  at  his  home  again  on  the  banks  of 
the  Wallawalla,  these  hundreds  of  his  fellow  summer  pilgrims,  way 
worn  and  sunbrowned,  took  him  by  the  hand  and  thanked  him  with 
tears  for  what  he  had  done. 

"  During  the  Doctor's  absence,  his  flour  mill,  with  a  quantity  of  grain, 
had  been  burned,  and,  consequently,  he  found  but  a  small  supply  at 
his  station  on  his  return,  raised  by  Mr.  Geiger,  a  young  man.  But  what 
he  had  in  the  way  of  grain,  garden  vegetables,  and  cattle,  he  gladly 
furnished  the  needy  immigrants  at  the  very  low  figure  of  the  Wallamet 
prices,  which  was  six  hundred  per  cent,  lower  than  what  they  had  been 
compelled  to  pay  at  Forts  Hall  and  Boise,  and  one  half  lower  than 
they  are  to-day  in  the  same  country.  And  this  was  his  practice  every 
year  till  himself  and  wife  and  fourteen  immigrants  were  murdered  in  the 
fall  of  1847,  because,  as  Vicar-General  Brouillet  says,  'they  were 
American  citizens ',  and  not,  as  I  am  bold  to  say  and  can  prove,  because 
he  was  a  physician.  Shame  on  the  American  that  will  intimate  such 
a  thing !  This  vicar-general  of  the  Papal  hosts  on  this  coast  does  not 
thank  you  for  such  an  excuse.  He  tells  you  plainly  it  was  to  break  up 
the  American  settlements  on  this  coast. 

"  Often  the  good  Doctor  would  let  every  bushel  of  his  grain  go  to  the 
passing  immigrants  in  the  fall,  and  then  would  have  to  depend  upon  me 
for  breadstuff's  for  the  winter  and  the  whole  year  till  next  harvest,  for 
his  own  large  family  and  the  scores  of  immigrants  who  every  year  were 
obliged  to  stop  at  his  station  on  account  of  sickness  or  give-out  teams. 
Although  the  Doctor  had  done  so  much  for  his  country,  it  seems  his 
blood  was'necessary  to  arouse  the  government  to  take  formal  posses 
sion  of  this  coast,  as  it  was  his  death  by  savages  that  sent  the 
devoted  J.  L.  Meek  over  the  mountains  to  Washington,  in  the  spring 
of  1848,  to  beg  the  government,  in  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  this  coast, 
to  send  us  help,  and  to  extend  its  jurisdiction  over  us." 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 

Petition  of  the  citizens  of  Oregon  in  1843. — Complaints  against  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company. — The  Milling  Company. — Kicking  the  half-bushel. — Land  claims  of  Dr. 
McLanghlin. — Xames  of  the  signers. — Reasons  for  not  signing. — Notice,  deed,  and 
bond  of  John  McLaughlin. — Claim  of  Alvin  F.  Waller. 

Petition  of  Citizens  of  Oregon  in  1843. 

To  the  Honorable  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled  : — 

We,  the  undersigned,  settlers  south  of  the  Columbia  River,  beg 
leave  respectfully  to  represent  to  your  honorable  body  : 

As  has  been  before  represented  to  your  honorable  body,  we  consider 
ourselves  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  acknowledge  the  right  of 
the  United  States  to  extend  its  jurisdiction  over  us;  and  the  object  of 
the  present  memorial  is  to  ask  that  the  protection  of  the  United  States 
may  be  extended  to  us  as  soon  as  possible.  Hitherto,  our  numbers 
have  been  small,  and  the  few  difficulties  that  arose  in  the  settlement 
were  speedily  and  satisfactorily  settled.  But,  as  our  settlement 
increases  in  numbers,  so  our  difficulties  increase  in  number  and  import 
ance  ;  and,  unless  we  can  have  laws  to  govern  us  that  will  be  respected 
and  obeyed,  our  situation  will  be  a  deplorable  one.  Where  the  highest 
court  of  appeal  is  the  rifle,  safety  in  life  and  property  can  not  be 
depended  on. 

The  state  of  the  country,  its  climate,  resources,  soil,  productions, 
etc.,  has  already  been  laid  before  your  honorable  body,  in  Captain 
Wyeth's  memoir,  and  in  former  memorials  from  the  inhabitants  of  this 
place. 

Laws  are  made  to  protect  the  weak  against  the  mighty,  and  we  feel 
the  necessity  of  them  in  the  steps  that  are  constantly  taken  by  the 
Honorable  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  in  their  opposition  to  the  improve 
ment  and  enterprise  of  American  citizens.  You  have  been  apprised 
already  of  their  opposition  to  Captain  Wyeth,  Bonneville,  and  others; 
and  we  find  that  the  same  spirit  dwells  with  them  at  the  present  day. 
Some  years  ago,  when  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  owned  all  the  cattle 
in  Oregon,  they  would  not  sell  on  any  conditions ;  but  they  would  lend 
their  cows  to  the  settler — he  returning  to  the  company  the  cows 
loaned,  with  all  the  increase ;  and  in  case  of  the  death  of  a  cow,  he 


PETITION   TO   CONGRESS.  993 

then  had  the  privilege  of  paying  for  it.  But  after  the  settlers,  at  great 
risk  and  expense,  went  to  California  and  purchased  for  themselves,  and 
there  was  a  fair  prospect  of  the  settlement  being  supplied,  then  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  were  willing  to  sell,  and  at  lower  rates  than 
the  settlers  could  sell. 

In  the  year  1842,  feeling  the  necessity  of  having  mills  erected  that 
could  supply  the  settlement  with  flour  and  lumber,  a  number  of  the 
inhabitants  formed  themselves  into  a  joint-stock  company,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  supplying  the  growing  wants  of  the  community.  Many  of 
the  farmers  were  obliged  to  leave  their  farms  on  the  Wallaraet,  and  go 
six  miles  above  Vancouver,  on  the  Columbia  River,  making  the  whole 
distance  about  sixty  miles,  to  get  their  wheat  ground,  at  a  great  loss 
of  time  and  expense.  The  company  was  formed  and  proceeded  to 
select  a  site.  They  selected  an  island  at  the  falls  of  the  Wallamet, 
and  concluded  to  commence  their  operations.  After  commencing,  they 
were  informed  by  Dr.  McLaughlin,  who  is  at  the  head  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  affairs  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  that  the  land 
was  his,  and  that  he  (although  a  chief  factor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company)  claimed  all  the  land  on  the  east  side  of  the  Wallamet, 
embracing  the  falls  down  to  the  Clackamas  River,  a  distance  of  about 
two  miles.  He  had  no  idea,  we  presume,  that  the  company  would 
succeed.  However,  he  erected  a  shed  on  the  island,  after  the  stuff  was 
on  the  island  to  build  a  house,  and  then  gave  them  permission  to 
build  under  certain  restrictions.  They  took  the  paper  he  wrote 
them,  containing  his  conditions,  but  did  not  obligate  themselves  to 
comply  with  the  conditions,  as  they  did  not  think  his  claim  just  or 
reasonable. 

Many  projects  had  been  started  by  the  inhabitants,  but,  for  want  of 
means  and  encouragement,  failed.  This  fate  was  predicted  for  the 
Milling  Company.  But,  after  much  labor  and  difficulty,  they 
succeeded  in  getting  a  saw-mill  erected,  and  ready  to  run,  and  entered 
into  a  contract  to  have  a  grist-mill  erected  forthwith.  And  now,  as 
they  have  succeeded,  where  is  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  ?  Dr. 
McLaughlin  employs  hands  to  get  out  a  frame  for  a  saw-mill,  and  erect 
it  at  Wallamet  Falls  ;  and  we  find,  as  soon  as  the  frame  is  up,  the  gear 
ing,  which  has  been  made  at  Vancouver,  is  brought  up  in  boats;  and 
that  which  cost  a  feeble  company  of  American  citizens  months  of  toil 
and  embarrassment  is  accomplished  by  the  chief  factor  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  in  a  few  weeks.  He  has  men  and  means,  and  it  is  said 
by  him  that  in  two  weeks  his  mill  will  be  sawing.  And  what  will  be 
the  consequence?  Why,  if  the  Milling  Company  sell  for  $15  per 
thousand,  he  can  sell  for  $12 ;  if  they  reduce  the  price  to  $10,  he  can 


294  HISTORY  OF  OREGOX. 

come  to  $8,  or  $5,  or  $2  per  thousand.  He  says  lie  will  have  a  grist 
mill  started  as  soon  as  he  gets  the  saw-mill  in  operation. 

All  the  wheat  in  Oregon  they  are  anxious  to  get,  as  they  ship  it  to 
the  Russians  on  the  northwest  coast.  In  the  first  place  they  measured 
the  wheat  in  a  half-bushel,  called  by  them  imperial  measure,  much 
larger  than  the  standard  measure  of  the  United  States ;  this  not 
answering,  they  next  proceeded  to  kicJt  the  half-bushel  icith  the  foot  to 
settle  the  wheat ;  then  they  brought  up  a  measure  larger  than  the 
former  one ;  and  now  they  fill  this  measure,  then  strike  it  three  times 
with  a  stout  club,  and  then  fill  up,  and  call  it  fair  measure.  Against 
such  proceedings  we  need  law  that  will  be  respected  and  obeyed. 

About  twelve  or  fourteen  years  ago,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
blasted  a  canal  a  few  feet  to  conduct  water  to  a  mill  they  were  going 
to  build,  the  timber  for  which  is  now  lying  at  the  falls  rotting.  They, 
however,  abandoned  the  thing  altogether,  and  built  their  mills  on  the 
Columbia,  about  six  miles  above  Vancouver,  on  the  north  side  of  the 
river. 

In  the  year  1837,  agreeably  to  orders  left  by  Mr.  Slacum,  a  house 
was  erected  at  the  falls,  to  secure  the  claim  for  him. 

In  1840,  the  Methodist  Mission  erected  buildings  at  the  falls,  and 
stationed  two  families  there,  and  made  a  claim  to  sufficient  land  for 
their  buildings,  not  interfering  with  any  others  who  might  wish  to 
build.  A  short  time  previous  to  this,  Dr.  McLanghlin  had  a  storehouse 
erected  for  the  company,  not  occupied,  however,  further  than  to  store 
wheat  and  other  articles  in,  and  as  a  trading-house  during  the  salmon 
season. 

After  this,  in  1841,  a  shanty  was  erected,  and  a  man  kept  at  the  falls, 
whose  business  it  was  to  trade  with  the  Indians  for  furs  and  salmon, 
and  look  out  for  the  doctor's  claim,  he  said,  and  to  forbid  persons 
building  at  the  falls,  as  some  had  built,  and  others  were  about  building. 
This  man  was,  and  still  is,  a  servant  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

During  the  years  1841  and  1842,  several  families  settled  at  the  falls, 
when  Dr.  McLaughlin,  who  still  resides  at  Fort  Vancouver,  comes  on 
the  ground,  and  says  the  land  is  his,  and  any  person  building  without 
his  permission  is  held  as  a  trespasser.  Without  reference  to  any  per 
son's  right  or  claim,  he  employs  a  surveyor  to  run  out  the  plat ;  and  as 
a  bill  was  before  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  to  grant  to  every 
white  male  inhabitant  a  mile  square,  he  has  a  mile  run  out  to  suit  his 
views,  and  lays  out  a  town  plat  at  the  falls,  and  calls  it  Oregon  City. 
Although  some,  for  peace'  sake,  asked  him  for  the  lots  they  had  already 
in  possession,  and  which  he  appeared  very  willing  to  grant,  the  doctor 
now  felt  himself  secure,  and  posted  up  the  annexed  paper  (marked  A), 


PETITION    TO   CONGRESS.  295 

which  is  the  original ;  and  all  who  had  lots  were  required  to  pay  Mr. 
Hastings  five  dollars  for  a  deed  of  land  which  they  knew  very  well  the 
grantor  did  not  own,  but  that  Congress  will  pass  a  special  act  granting 
to  each  man  his  lot  and  improvements.  Those  that  applied  received 
(if  they  had  a  house  on  the  lot)  a  deed,  a  copy  of  which  is  annexed 
(marked  B) ;  if  they  had  no  house,  a  bond  was  given  for  five  dollars, 
a  copy  of  which  is  annexed  (marked  C).  To  those  that  applied  and 
paid  their  five  dollars  all  was  right  with  the  doctor ;  while  those  who 
considered  his  title  to  the  land  not  good,  and  that  therefore  he  had  no 
right  to  direct  who  should  build  and  who  should  not,  had  their  lots 
sold  to  others.  In  one  case  the  purchaser  came  to  the  original  claimant 
and  ordered  him  to  stop  digging  the  ground  which  he  was  preparing 
for  a  garden,  and  commanded  him  to  remove  his  fences,  as  lie  had  Dr. 
McLaughlin's  bond  in  his  pocket  for  the  lots ;  and  if  he  did  not  move 
the  fence  he  would,  and  take  forcible  possession.  Those  who  desired 
to  have  no  difficulty,  and  did  not  apply  for  a  deed,  have  lost  their  lots, 
the  doctor's  promise,  and  all.  And  Mr.  Hastings  (the  doctor's  agent) 
is  now  offering  for  sale  the  lots  on  which  part  of  the  mission  buildings 
stand ;  and  if  lie  succeeds  in  finding  a  purchaser,  they  must  either  con 
tend  or  lose  their  buildings. 

Dr.  McLaughlin  has  held  claims  in  other  places  south  of  the  Colum 
bia  River:  at  the  Tualatin  Plains  and  Clackamas  Plains  he  had  huts 
erected,  to  prevent  others  from  building;  and  such  is  the  power  of  Dr. 
McLaughlin,  that  many  persons  are  actually  afraid  to  make  their  situa 
tion  known,  thinking,  if  he  hears  of  it,  he  will  stop  their  supplies.  Let 
ters  were  received  here  from  Messrs.  Ladd  &  Co.,  of  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  in  answer  to  a  letter  written  by  the  late  Mr.  Ewing  Young,  for 
a  few  supplies,  that  orders  were  received  forbidding  the  company's  ves 
sels  carrying  any  goods  for  the  settlers  of  Oregon.  Every  means  will 
be  made  use  of  by  them  to  break  down  every  thing  that  will  draw 
trade  to  this  country,  or  enable  persons  to  get  goods  at  any  other  place 
than  their  store. 

One  other  item,  and  we  are  done.  When  the  United  States  govern 
ment  officers  of  distinction  arrive,  Vancouver  is  thrown  open,  and  every 
facility  afforded  them.  They  were  even  more  condescending  to  the 
settlers  during  the  time  the  exploring  squadron  was  in  the  Columbia; 
nothing  was  left  undone  to  give  the  officers  a  high  opinion  of  the  Hon 
orable  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Our  Indian  agent  is  entirely  de 
pendent  on  them  for  supplies  and  funds  to  carry  on  his  operations. 

And  now  your  memorialists  pray  your  honorable  body  that  imme 
diate  action  of  Congress  be  taken  in  regard  to  this  country,  and  good 
and  wholesome  laws  be  enacted  for  our  Territory,  as  may,  in  your  wis- 


206  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

dom,  be  thought  best  for  the  good  of  the  American  citizens  residing 

here. 

And  your  memorialists  will  ever  pray. 

Robert  Shortess,  A.  E.  Wilson,*  W.  C.  Remick,*  Jeffrey  Brown,  E.  1ST. 
Coombs,  Reuben  Lewis,  George  Davis,  V.  Bennett,  J.  Rekener,  T. 
J.  Hubbard,  James  A.  O'Xeil,  Jer.  Horregon,  William  McCarty, 
Charles  Compo,  John  Howard,*  R.  Williams,  G.  Brown,  John  Tur 
ner,*  Theodore  Pancott,  A.  F.  Waller,  J.  R.  Robb,  J.  L.  Morrison, 
M.  Crawford,  John  Anderson,  James  M.  Bates,  L.  II.  Judson,  Joel 
Turnham,*  Richard  H.  Ekin,  H.  Campbell,*  James  Force,  W.  H. 
Wilson,*  Felix  Hathaway,*  J.  Lawson,  Thomas  J.  Shadden,*  Joseph 
Gibbs,  S.  Lewis,  Jr.,  Charles  Roy,  William  Brown,  S.  Davis,  Joseph 
Yatten,  John  Hopstatter,*  G.  W.  Bellomy,*  William  Brown,  A. 
Beers,  J.  L.  Parish,  William  H.  Gray,  A.  D.  Smith,*  J.  C.  Bridgers,* 
Aaron  Cook,  A.  Copeland,  S.  W.  Moss,  Gustavus  Hines,  George  W. 
Le  Breton,*  Daniel  Girtman,  C.  T.  Arrendrill,  A.  Touner,  David 
Carter,*  J.  J.  Campbell,*  W.  Johnson,*  John  Edmunds,  W.  Haux- 
hurst,  W.  A.  Pfiefter,  J.  Holman,  H.  B.  Brewer,  William  C.  Button. 
Sixty-five  in  all. 
The  foregoing  are  all  the  names  which  appear  to  the  petition  printed 

as  Senate  document  105,  and  presented  to  the  Senate  at  the  first  session 

of  the  twenty-eighth  Congress. 

W.  J.  MCDONALD, 

Principal  Clerk  of  Sec'y  Senate. 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Jan.  5,  1866. 

Mr.  George  Abernethy  declined  to  sign  this  petition  through  fear  of 
injuring  the  Methodist  Mission  in  its  secular  or  business  relations  with 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

Hugh  Burns  would  not  sign  it  because  he  did  not  wish  Congress  to 
be  asked  to  confirm  his  title  to  lots  and  improvements. 

Jason  Lee,  though  he  thought  it  right  to  petition  Congress  for 
protection,  yet  on  account  of  his  position  as  superintendent  of  the 
Methodist  Mission,  and  the  influence  of  the  company  against  them 
should  1  e  sign  it,  thought  it  best  not  to  give  his  name. 

Dr.  I.  L.  Babcock  refused,  because,  by  signing,  he  would  lose  his 
influence  with  the  company. 

Walter  Pomeroy,  ditto. 

Dr.  Bailey  did  not  wish  any  protection  from  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States. 

*  It  is  understood  that  the  persons  whose  names  are  marked  with  an  asterisk  (*)  are 
now  dead ;  the  balance  are  supposed  to  be  still  living. 


COMMENTS   OX   PETITION.  297 

Rev.  II.  K.  "W.  Perkins  was  ashamed  of  the  petition.  "  What  does 
Congress  care  about  measuring  wheat?  or  a  contest  between  two 
milling  companies  ?" 

George  Gay  did  not  care  any  thing  about  it.  Congress  might  do  as 
it  pleased;  be  did  not  want  its  protection. 

The  people  in  Tualatin  Plains  did  not  have  an  opportunity  to  sign  or 
refuse  for  want  of  time  to  circulate  it  in  that  section.  The  bearer  of  it, 
William  C.  Button,  was  on  his  way  to  the  Slates  across  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Through  the  influence  of  Dr.  White,  who  had  clandes 
tinely  procured  a  copy  of  the  petition  and  the  names  attached,  and  had 
made  an  effort  to  prevent  its  reaching  Mr.  Sutton,  it  had  been  delayed, 
but  through  the  perseverance  and  promptness  of  Robert  Shortess  and 
A.  E.  Wilson,  it  was  sent  by  Davis  and  Johnson  and  some  Indians  in 
an  express  canoe,  and  reached  Mr.  Sutton  before  he  left  the  Cascades. 
For  this  service  to  his  country  and  the  persevering  efforts  of  Mr. 
Shortess  to  maintain  the  rights  of  American  citizens  in  it,  he  was  early 
placed  under  the  ban  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and,  it  may  be 
added,  the  Methodist  Mission ;  and  reports  prejudicial  to  him  have  been 
freely  and  persistently  kept  before  the  public  mind,  as  also  against  any 
others  that  have  taken  an  active  part  against  the  infamous  and  despotic 
course  of  that  company.  This  is  to  weaken  their  testimony,  and  to  ren 
der  them  powerless  to  prevent  the  present  proposed  robbing  of  our 
national  treasury.  Instead  of  paying  one  dime  to  that  company  for 
doing  all  they  dared  to  do  to  prevent  the  settlement  of  Oregon  by 
Americans,  a  pension  should  be  paid  to  Robert  Shortess  and  many 
others  who  dared  to  maintain  the  rights  of  the  American  people  to  this 
western  coast.  Whitman  periled  every  thing  and  lost  his  life  to  save 
the  country.  Shortess  has  periled  all,  and  worn  himself  out  in  strug 
gling  under  an  influence  that  took  the  life  of  Dr.  Whitman  and  many 
others,  for  which  this  Hudson's  Bay  Company  are  now  to  receive  pay. 

It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  make  a  single  remark  in  reference  to  this 
petition.  It  is  a  history  in  itself  of  the  times  and  events  then  occurring. 
Mr.  Hines  refers  to  it  as  of  little  moment,  and  on  page  150  says:  "Not 
being  one  of  the  authors,  but  merely  a  signer  of  the  petition,  I  did  not 
come  under  the  ban  of  the  company;  consequently,  I  obtained  my  out 
fit  for  the  expedition,  though  at  first  there  were  strong  indications  that 
I  would  be  refused." 

We  would  infer  from  this,  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  did  not 
regard  it  as  a  serious  matter,  but  in  the  next  line  he  tells  us :  "  We 
remained  at  the  fort  over  night  and  a  part  of  the  next  day,  and,  after  a 
close  conversation  with  the  gentlemen  in  command,  were  treated  with 
great  courtesy." 


298  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

This  lets  us  into  the  whole  mystery  of  the  affair.  The  gentlemen  in 
charge  of  the  fort  had  become  satisfied  that  Mr.  Hines  in  his  visit  among 
the  Indians  would  not  interfere  with  their  arrangements  already  made 
with  McKay  and  White  ;  in  fact,  that  Mr.  Hines  approved  of  Dr. White's 
policy  of  uniting  the  tribes  in  the  interior  to  accomplish  the  one 
great  object  of  the  company.  The  documents  that  follow  are  given  to 
show  the  fact  stated  in  the  petition,  as  also  the  high-hauded  measures 
of  the  company  and  Dr.  McLaughliu. 

A. 

Notice  is  hereby  given  to  all  whom  it  may  concern,  that  those  who 
have  obtained  grants  of  lots  in  Oregon  City,  will  be  expected  to  call 
upon  L.  W.  Hastings,  my  authorized  agent  at  Oregon  City,  and  obtain 
a  bond  for  a  deed  or  deeds,  as  the  case  may  be.  Those  who  hold 
claims  to  any  lot,  and  who  comply  with  the  above  requisite,  on  or  before 
the  first  day  of  February  next,  will  be  entitled  to  their  lot  or  lots ; 
otherwise,  the  lots  upon  which  they  hold  a  claim  will  thereafter  be 
subject  to  any  disposition  which  the  undersigned  may  think  proper  to 
make  of  them. 

JOHX  MCLAUGHLIN. 

/anuary  18,  1843. 

OBEGOX  CITY,  March  27,  1843. 

We,  the  undersigned,  do  hereby  certify  that  the  above  notice  of 
John  McLaughlin  was  posted  up  in  the  most  public  places  in  this  town. 

R.  SHORTESS. 
A.  E.  WILSOX. 


B. 

Deed — John  McLaughlin  to  Walter  Pomeroy. 

Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that  I,  John  McLaughlin,  of  Fort 
Vancouver,  in  the  Territory  of  Oregon,  for  and  in  consideration  of  the 
sum  of  one  dollar,  to  me  in  hand  paid  by  Walter  Pomeroy,  of  Oregon 
City,  of  the  Territory  aforesaid,  the  receipt  whereof  is  hereby  acknowl 
edged,  have  this  day,  and  do,  by  these  presents,  remit,  release,  and  for 
ever  quit  claim  unto  the  said  Pomeroy,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  all  and 
singular,  the  following  piece,  parcel,  and  lot  of  land,  bounded  and 
described  as  follows,  to  wit :  Commencing  at  the  northeast  corner,  run 
ning  thence  southerly  sixty-six  feet  to  a  stake,  thence  easterly  one 
hundred  fe-et  to  a  stake  at  the  place  of  beginning,  being  lot  number  four, 
in  block  number  three,  in  the  town  of  Oregon  City,  in  the  Territory  of 


DEED   AND   BOXD.  299 

Oregon,  which  will  more  fully  appear  from  a  reference  to  the  map  and 
plan  of  said  town : 

To  have  and  to  hold  the  same,  together  with  all  and  singular  the  privi 
leges  and  appurtenances  thereunto  in  any  wise  appertaining  or  belonging 
unto  the  said  Pomeroy,  his  heirs,  executors,  administrators,  or  assigns, 
forever. 

And  I,  the  said  McLaughlin,  for  myself,  do  vouch  and  declare  that  I 
am  the  true  and  proper  claimant  of  and  to  the  said  premises  and  lot  of 
land,  and  that  I  have  in  myself  full  power,  good  right,  and  sufficient 
authority  to  remit,  release,  and  quit  my  claim  in  and  to  said  lot  and 
premises,  in  manner  and  form  aforesaid. 

And  I,  the  said  McLaughlin,  do  hereby  covenant  and  agree  to  war 
rant  and  defend  the  said  premises,  together  with  the  privileges  and 
appurtenances  thereunto  appertaining  or  belonging,  to  the  said  Pom 
eroy,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  against  all  lawful  claims  of  all  persons  whom 
soever,  the  claims  of  the  government  only  excepted. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I,  the  said  McLaughlin,  have  hereunto  set  my 
hand  and  affixed  my  seal,  this  the  2d  of  March,  A.  D.  1843. 

JOHN  MCLAUGHLIN.  [L.  s.] 

Per  L.  W.  HASTINGS,  his  agent. 

We,  the  undersigned,  do  hereby  acknowledge  that  the  above  is  a  true 
and  correct  copy  of  the  original. 

R.  SIIORTESS. 
A.  E.  WILSON. 

C. 

Bond — John  McLaughlin  to  Albert  E.  Wilson. 

Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that  I,  John  McLaughlin,  of  Fort 
Vancouver,  in  the  Territory  of  Oregon,  am  held  and  firmly  bound  unto 
Albert  E.  Wilson,  of  Oregon  City,  in  the  Territory  aforesaid,  in  the 
full  sum  of  five  hundred  dollars,  federal  money  ;  for  the  punctual  pay 
ment  of  which,  well  and  truly  to  be  made,  I  bind  myself,  my  heirs, 
executors  or  administrators,  firmly  by  these  presents. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  below  set  my  hand  and 
affixed  my  seal,  this  the  26th  day  of  December,  A.  D.  1842. 

Now,  know  ye,  that  the  condition  of  the  above  obligation  is  such, 
that  whereas  the  said  Wilson  hath  this  day,  and  doth  by  these  presents, 
purchase  of  the  said  McLaughlin  all  and  singular  the  following  pieces, 
parcels,  tracts,  and  lots  of  land,  namely:  Lots  jSTos.  four  and  five,  in 
block  No.  two,  in  the  town  of  Oregon  City,  in  the  Territory  of  Oregon, 


300  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

as  is  more  fully  shown  by  the  map  and  plan  of  said  town,  and  hath,  and 
by  these  presents  doth  agree  to  build  upon  and  improve  each  of  the  lots 
-within  the  term  of  one  year  from  the  date  of  these  presents.  In  con 
sideration  of  which,  the  said  McLaughlin  hath,  and  doth  by  these 
presents  covenant  and  agree  to  make  the  said  Wilson  a  good  and 
sufficient  quit-claim  deed  for  and  to  all  and  singular  the  above-men 
tioned  pieces,  parcels,  tracts,  and  lots  of  land,  whenever  he>  the  said 
Wilson,  shall  have  complied  with  the  above  conditions  on  his  part. 
Xow,  if  the  said  McLaughlin  shall  well  and  truly  make,  or  cause  to  be 
made,  the  said  deed  to  the  said  Wilson,  upon  the  said  Wilson's  com 
plying  on  his  part  with  the  above  condition,  then,  and  in  such  case,  the 
within  obligation  shall  become  entirely  void  and  of  no  effect;  otherwise 
to  be  and  remain  of  full  force  and  virtue. 

JOHN  MCLAUGHLIN.  [L.  s.] 
Per  L.  W.  HASTINGS,  his  agent. 

We,  the  undersigned,  do  hereby  acknowledge  the  above  to  be  a  true 
and  correct  copy  of  the  original. 

R.  SHORTESS. 
A.  E.  WILSON. 

Our  history  would  not  be  complete  without  these  documents.  It  will 
be  noticed  in  Mr.  Pomeroy's  deed,  as  also  all  the  other  deeds  given  by 
Dr.  McLaughlin,  that  he  "  warrants  and  defends "  against  all  lawful 
claims  of  all  persons  whomsoever,  the  claims  of  the  government  only 
excepted.  He  would  not  insert  United  States  government,  for  he  expected 
the  English  would  get  the  country.  He  asserts  in  his  deeds,  "  And  I, 
the  said  McLaughlin,  for  myself,  do  voucli  and  declare  that  I  am  the 
true  and  proper  claimant  of,  and  to  the  said  premises  and  lot  of  land, 
and  that  I  have  in  myself  full  power  and  good  right." 

Any  one  questioning  his  power  and  authority  was  made  to  feel  it 
in  a  manner  more  severe  than  that  of  any  governor  of  a  State  or  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States. 

It  was  unfortunate  that,  at  the  time  Dr.  McLaughlin  was  making  his 
claim  to  the  land  and  his  improvements  at  Oregon  City,  it  was  not 
known  that  he  had,  or  would,  sever  his  connection  with  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  and  become  an  American  citizen,  as  he  afterward  did. 
It  was  his  connection  with,  and  apparent  control  over,  the  affairs  of  the 
company,  that  created  the  strong  American  prejudice  against  him,  and 
deceived  many  as  to  his  intentions,  besides  giving  occasion  for  a 
strong  feeling  in  favor  of  Rev.  Mr.  Waller,  who  employed  a  Mr.  John 
Ricord  to  prepare  a  declaration  setting  forth  his  claim  to  that  location, 
as  follows : — 


REV.   MR.   WALLER'S  CLAIM.  301 

"  To  the  People  of  Oregon  : 

"  FELLOW-CITIZENS, — Having  been  retained  professionally  to  establish 
the  claim  of  Mr.  Alvin  F.  Waller  to  the  tract  of  land  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Wallamet  River,  sometimes  called  the  Wallamet  Falls  settle 
ment,  and  sometimes  Oregon  City,  I  consider  it  a  duty  to  my  client 
and  to  the  public  to  state,  briefly  and  concisely,  the  several  circum 
stances  of  his  case,  as  they  really  exist,  in  order  that  his  motives  may 
not  be  impugned,  nor  his  intentions  misunderstood  and  misrepresented. 

"  The  public  are  already  aware  that  my  client  commenced  the  occu 
pancy  of  this  farm  in  the  spring  of  A.  D.  1840,  when  no  one  resided  at 
the  falls,  and  that,  in  the  course  of  that  summer,  he  built  his  house, 
moved  his  family  into  it,  and  cleared  and  fenced  a  good  portion  of  the 
land;  from  which,  in  the  ensuing  years  A.  D.  1841  and  1842,  he  raised 
successive  crops  of  corn,  potatoes,  and  other  vegetables  usually  culti 
vated  by  farmers.  That  he  remained  thus  occupying  undisturbed,  until 
the  month  of  December,  A.  D.  1842,  about  two  years  and  six  months, 
when  Dr.  John  McLaughlin  caused  his  farm  to  be  surveyed,  for  the 
purpose  of  selling  it  in  subdivisions  to  American  citizens.  It  has  since 
been  currently  reported  and  quite  generally  believed  that  my  client 
had  renounced  his  right  in  favor  of  Dr.  McLaughlin.  This  I  am  au 
thorized  to  contradict,  having  perused  the  letter  written  by  Mr.  Waller, 
which  not  only  contains  no  renunciation,  but,  on  the  contrary,  is  replete 
with  modest  and  firm  assertions  of  his  rights  in  the  premises ;  oifering 
at  the'  same  time  to  relinquish  his  claim  if  the  doctor  would  comply 
with  certain  very  reasonable  and  just  conditions.  Upon  this  offer  the 
parties  had  come  to  no  final  conclusion  until  my  arrival  in  the  colony, 
when  Dr.  McLaughlin  attempted  to  employ  me  to  establish  his  claim, 
disregarding  the  rights  of  all  other  persons,  which  I  declined  doing. 
Mr.  Waller  thereupon  engaged  me  to  submit  the  conditions  a  second 
time  to  the  doctor  for  his  acceptance  or  rejection,  which  I  did  in  the 
following  words  : — 

"  '  1st.  That  your  pre-emptive  line  be  so  run  as  to  exclude  the  island 
upon  which  a  private  company  of  citizens  have  already  erected  a  grist 
mill,  conceding  to  them  as  much  water  as  may  be  necessary  for  the 
use  of  said  mills. 

" '  2d.  That  Mr.  Waller  be  secured  in  the  ultimate  title  to  the  two 
city  lots  now  in  his  possession  and  other  lots  not  exceeding  in  super 
ficial  area  five  acres,  to  be  chosen  by  him  from  among  the  unsold  lots 
of  your  present  survey. 

" '  3d.  That  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lee,  on  behalf  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Mission,  be,  in  like  manner,  secured  in  the  lots  claimed  for  the  use  of 


302  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

said  mission.'      They  consist  of  church  and  parsonage  lots,  and  are 
well  known  to  the  public. 

"  I  received  a  letter  from  Dr.  McLaughlin,  dated  November  10,  1843, 
in  answer  to  mine,  in  which  he  declines  complying  with  the  above  con 
ditions,  and  thus  puts  an  end  to  the  offer  of  my  client  to  relinquish  his 
right  of  pre-emption.  Under  these  circumstances  Mr.  Waller  has  now 
applied  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  which,  under  the 
Constitution,  has  original  jurisdiction  of  '  all  cases  in  law  and  equity, 
arising  under  treaties,'  to  grant  him  a  commission  for  perpetuating  the 
testimony  of  the  facts  in  his  case,  de  bene  esse,  in  order  that  whenever 
Congress  shall  hereafter  see  fit  to  prescribe,  by  law,  the  conditions  and 
considerations,  he  may  be  enabled  to  demand  of  the  United  States  a 
patent ;  also  praying  the  court  to  grant  him  such  other  relief  in  the 
premises  as  may  be  consonant  with  equity  and  good  conscience. 

"  The  legality  of  Mr.  A.  F.  Waller's  claim  rests  upon  the  following 
grounds  : — 

"  1st.  He  was  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  of  full  age,  and  possessed 
of  a  family  when  he  came  to  reside  on  the  premises ;  2d.  He  built  a 
house  upon  them  and  moved  his  family  into  it,  thus  becoming  in  fact 
and  in  law  a  householder  on  the  land ;  3d.  He  cleared,  fenced,  and 
cultivated  a  portion  of  it  during  two  years  and  six  months  before  he 
was  disturbed  in  his  actual  possession ;  and  4th.  That  he  is  not  at  this 
moment  continuing  to  cultivate  his  farm  is  not  his  fault,  since  it  was 
wrested  from  him. 

"  The  illegality  of  Dr.  McLaughlin's  claim  rests  upon  the  following 
grounds : — 

"  1st.  He  was  a  British  subject  owing  allegiance  to  a  foreign  power, 
and  has  so  continued  to  be  ever  since  the  spring  of  A.  D.  1840.  For 
this  reason  alone  he  could  not  acquire  pre-emption  to  lands  in  the 
United  States. 

"  2d.  He  is  chief  officer  of  a  foreign  corporative  monopoly.  For  this 
reason  alone  he  could  not  acquire  pre-emption  to  lands  in  the  United 
States. 

"  3d.  He  does  not  now,  and  never  did,  reside  on  the  land  in  question  ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  he  resides,  and  has  always  continued  to  reside,  on 
the  north  bank  of  the  Columbia  River,  the  section  of  country  actu 
ally  in  dispute  between  the  two  governments,  about  twenty  miles  from 
the  land  claimed  by  Mr.  Waller,  and  there  he  is  obliged  to  remain  so 
long  as  he  continues  to  be  chief  factor. 

"4th.  He  is  not  in  fact  the  claimant.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
a  foreign  corporation,  is  in  fact  the  claimant,  while  Dr.  McLaughlin 
only  lends  his  name ;  well  knowing  that  a  corporation,  even  though  it 


ILLEGALITY  OF   MCLAUGHLIN'S   CLAIM.  303 

be  an  American  one,  can  not  acquire  a  pre-emption.  This  is  evinced  by 
the  employment  of  men  to  be  his  agents,  and  to  sell  lots  for  him,  who 
are  at  the  same  time  partners  in,  and  receiving  dividends  and  salaries 
from,  the  company. 

5th.  The  pretensions  of  Dr.  McLanghlin  arose,  if  at  all,  two  years 
and  six  months  after  the  actual  settlement  of  Mr.  Waller;  and  therefore 
they  are  in  direct  violation  of  the  treaty  of  A.  D.  1827,  converting  the 
mutual  and  joint  occupation  into  an  exclusive  occupancy  by  British 
subjects. 

"6th.  The  treaty  of  joint  occupation  (1827)  does  not,  and  was  never 
intended,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  to  confer  any  rights  of  citi 
zenship  upon  foreigners.  The  power  to  confer  such  rights  is,  by  the 
Constitution,  reserved  to  Congress.  And  the  right  to  acquire  title  by 
pre-emption  is  peculiar  to  citizens. 

"  These,  fellow-citizens,  are  the  facts  and  some  of  the  points  of  law  in 
my  client's  case.  Upon  the  same  principle  contended  for  by  Dr.  Mc- 
Lauglilin,  any  of  you  may  incur  the  risk  of  being  ousted  from  your 
farms  in  this  colony,  by  the  next  rich  foreigner  who  chooses  to  take  a 
fancy  so  to  do,  unless  in  the  first  instance  you  come  unanimously  for 
ward  and  resist  these  usurpations.  It  is  not  my  client's  intention  to 
wrong  any  who  have  purchased  lots  of  the  doctor;  and  to  guard  against 
the  injury  which  might  result  to  individuals  in  this  respect,  I  have 
carefully  drawn  up  the  form  of  a  bond  for  a  warrantee  deed,  which  Mr. 
Waller  is  at  all  times  ready,  without  any  further  consideration,  to  exe 
cute  to  any  person  who  has,  in  good  faith,  bought  of  the  doctor,  prior 
to  the  date  of  this  notice,  by  being  applied  to  at  his  residence.  Mr. 
Waller  does  not  require  one  cent  of  money  to  be  paid  to  him  as  a  con 
sideration  for  his  bonds — the  trouble,  expense,  and  outlays  they  have 
already  incurred,  with  a  desire  to  save  all  such  persons  harmless  from 
pecuniary  loss,  is  a  good  and  sufficient  consideration  in  law  to  bind 
him  in  the  proposed  penalty  of  one  thousand  dollars.  (See  Cowan's 
Digest — Assumpsit,  B). 

<4I  am  of  opinion  that  Mr.  Waller  has  rights  in  the  premises,  which 
neither  Dr.  McLaughlin,  nor  even  Congress,  by  any  retrospective  legis 
lation,  can  take  away  from  him, — and  therefore,  fellow-citizens,  in  sincere 
friendship,  I  would  counsel  you  to  lose  no  time  in  applying  to  him  for 
your  new  bonds. 

"  JOHN  RICOKD, 

"  Counselor  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
and  attorney  for  Alvin  F.  Waller. 

"  Dated  December  20,  1843." 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

Extracts  from  Mr.  Hines'  history. — Attempt  to  capture  an  Indian  horse-thief. — Dr. 
McLaughlin  refuses  to  sell  supplies  to  the  signers  of  the  petition. — Excitement  in 
the  settlement. — Interview  with  Dr.  McLaughlin  at  Vancouver. 

"  APRIL  14. — Information  was  brought  to  the  settlement  from  the 
Clackarnas  tribe  of  Indians,  who  live  three  miles  below  the  falls  of  the 
Wallamet,  which  served  to  increase  the  excitement  occasioned  by  the 
reports  from  the  interior.  It  appears  that  an  Indian  of  the  Molalla 
tribe,  connected  with  the  Clackamas  Indians  by  marriage,  stole  a  horse 
from  a  man  by  the  name  of  Anderson,  and  when  asked  by  the  latter  if 
he  had  stolen  his  horse  and  rode  him  off,  answered,  '  Yes,  I  stole  your 
horse,  and  when  I  want  another  one  I  shall  steal  him  also.'  To  this 
Anderson  replied,  '  If  you  stole  my  horse  you  must  pay  me  for  him.' 
*  Yes,'  said  the  Indian,  'I  will  pay  you  for  him,  take  that  horse,'  point 
ing  to  a  very  poor  horse  which  stood  near  by,  with  one  eye  out,  and  a 
very  sore  back.  Anderson  replied,  '  That  is  a  very  poor  horse,  and 
mine  is  a  good  one  ;  I  shall  not  take  him,  and  if  you  don't  bring  him 
back  I  will  report  you  to  Dr.  White.'  '  I  am  not  afraid  of  Dr.  White,' 
said  the  Indian ;  '  let  him  come  if  he  wants  to,  and  bring  the  Boston 
people  with  him;  he  will  find  me  prepared  for  him.' 

"  Anderson  not  being  able  to  effect  a  settlement  with  the  Indian, 
immediately  reported  him  to  the  agent,  whereupon  the  latter  wrote  to 
a  man  at  the  falls,  by  the  name  of  Campbell,  to  take  a  sufficient  num 
ber  of  men  armed  with  muskets,  and  go  very  early  in  the  morning  to 
the  Indian  camp,  and  take  the  horse-thief  a  prisoner,  and  bring  him  to 
the  falls. 

"  Accordingly,  Campbell  procured  five  men,  and  went  to  the  camp 
as  commanded,  but  found  thirty  or  forty  Indians  painted  in  the  most 
hideous  manner,  and  armed  with  muskets,  bows  and  arrows,  tomahawks 
and  scalping-knives,  and  determined  at  all  events  to  protect  the  horse- 
thief,  and  drive  back  those  that  should  come  to  take  him.  Campbell 
rushed  on  to  take  the  rogue,  but  met  with  much  resistance  from  supe 
riority  of  numbers ;  and  finding  that  the  enterprise,  if  urged  forward, 
would  terminate  in  bloodshed,  if  not  in  the  loss  of  all  their  lives, 
sounded  a  retreat,  and  extricating  himself  from  the  Indians,  returned 
to  the  falls.  He  communicated  the  result  of  his  attempt  to  Dr.  White, 


HOSTILITY  OF  INDIANS.  305 

and  the  doctor  started  off  immediately  in  company  with  G.  TV.  Le 
Breton,  resolved  to  capture  the  thief  and  bring  the  tribe  to  terms." 

This  day's  proceedings  are  given  as  a  specimen  of  the  foolish  con 
duct  of  Dr.  White  and  his  friends. 

"April  17. — The  excitement  still  continues,  former  reports  having 
been  confirmed,  and  all  were  engaged  in  repairing  guns,  and  securing 
ammunition.  A  report  was  in  circulation  that  Dr.  McLaughlin  refused 
to  grant  supplies  for  any  consideration,  to  all  those  persons  who  sub 
scribed  the  memorial  praying  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  to  ex 
tend  jurisdiction  over  Oregon.  If  this  be  so,  the  American  population 
(as  nearly  all  signed  the  memorial)  will  not  be  able  to  obtain  ammuni 
tion,  however  necessary  it  may  be,  as  there  is  none  in  the  country  ex 
cept  what  may  be  found  within  the  stockades  of  Vancouver.  I  think, 
however,  that  the  report  is  false.  Report  says,  furthermore,  that  the 
Klikitat  Indians  are  collecting  together  back  of  the  Tualatin  plains,  but 
for  what  purpose  is  not  known.  The  people  on  the  plains,  consisting 
of  about  thirty  families,  are  quite  alarmed.  There  is  also  a  move 
among  the  Calapooyas.  Shoefon,  one  of  the  principal  men  of  the  tribe, 
left  this  place  a  few  days  ago,  and  crossed  the  Wallamet  River,  declar 
ing  that  he  would  never  return  until  he  came  with  a  band  of  men  to 
drive  off  the  Boston  people.  He  was  very  much  offended  because  some 
of  his  people  were  seized  and  flogged,  through  the  influence  of  Dr. 
White,  for  having  stolen  a  horse  from  some  of  the  missionaries,  and 
flour  from  the  mission  mill.  His  influence  is  not  very  extensive  among 
the  Indians,  or  we  might  have  much  to  fear. 

"  The  colony  is  indeed  in  a  most  defenseless  condition ;  two  hundred 
Indians,  divided  into  four  bands,  might  destroy  the  whole  settlement 
in  one  night. 

"In  the  evening  of  the  17th,  Dr.  White  arrived  at  my  house,  bring 
ing  intelligence  from  the  falls.  He  and  Mr.  Le  Breton  attempted  to  go 
to  the  falls  on  horseback,  but  in  trying  to  ford  liaunchauke  River,  they 
found  the  water  so  deep  they  were  obliged  to  swim,  and  the  doctor  turn 
ed  his  horse's  head  and  came  out  the  side  he  went  in  ;  but  Le  Breton, 
being  the  better  mounted  of  the  two,  succeeded  in  gaining  the  opposite 
shore ;  and  having  the  doctor's  letters  in  his  possession,  continued  on 
to  the  falls.  The  doctor  returned  to  the  settlement.  Le  Breton  re 
turned  the  following  day,  and  brought  information  from  the  five  men 
who  had  attempted  to  take  the  Indian  who  had  stolen  Anderson's  horse, 
that  soon  after  their  retreat  the  Indians  became  alarmed  and  broke  up 
in  great  haste  ;  but,  before  they  left,  they  informed  Anderson  that  the 
horse  they  had  stolen  from  him  was  worn  out  and  good  for  nothing, 
and  tying  a  good  horse  to  a  tree  near  Anderson's  house,  they  told  him 
20 


306  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

that  he  must  take  that  and  be  satisfied.  They  then  hurried  away, 
saying  that  they  should  not  be  seen  in  that  region  again.  It  was  ascer 
tained  that  the  Clackamas  Indians  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  stolen 
horse ;  that  it  was  a  band  of  the  Molallas,  the  very  same  rascals  that 
stole  a  horse  from  me  two  years  before,  and  after  having  him  in  their 
possession  several  weeks,  brought  him  down  within  a  few  miles  of  my 
house,  where  they  encamped,  and  where  I  went  with  one  man  and  took 
him  from  the  midst  of  more  than  fifty  grim-looking  savages." 
This  shows  at  least  that  Mr.  Hines  had  personal  courage. 
"  On  the  20th  of  April  a  letter  was  received  in  the  settlement, 
written  by  H.  B.  Brewer,  at  the  Dalles,  which  brings  the  latest  intel 
ligence  from  the  infected  region.  This  letter  states  that  the  Indians 
in  the  interior  talk  much  of  war,  and  Mr.  Brewer  urges  Dr.  White  to 
come  up  without  delay,  and  endeavor  to  allay  the  excitement.  He 
does  not  inform  us  that  the  Indians  design  any  evil  toward  the  whites, 
but  says  that  the  war  is  to  be  between  themselves,  but  that  the  Boston 
people  have  much  to  fear.  As  the  doctor,  in  his  visit  to  the  interior 
last  October,  left  an  appointment  to  meet  the  Wallawalla  Indians  and 
the  Cayuses,  in  their  own  country,  on  the  10th  of  May,  and  believing 
that  a  great  share  of  the  excitement  originated  in  a  misunderstanding 
of  the  Indians,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  at  all  hazards  to  go  among 
them.  At  the  solicitation  of  the  agent,  I  determined  to  accompany  him 
on  the  expedition. 

"  The  great  complaint  of  the  Indians  was  that  the  Boston  people 
designed  to  take  away  their  lands,  and  reduce  them  to  slavery.  This 
they  had  inferred  from  what  Dr.  White  had  told  them  in  his  previous 
visit ;  and  this  misunderstanding  of  the  Indians  had  not  only  produced 
a  great  excitement  among  them,  but  had  occasioned  considerable 
trouble  betwixt  them  and  the  missionaries  and  other  whites  in  the 
upper  country,  as  well  as  influencing  them  to  threaten  the  destruction 
of  all  the  American  people.  Individuals  had  come  down  from  Fort 
Wallawalla  to  Vancouver,  bringing  information  of  the  excited  state 
of  things  among  the  Indians,  and  giving  out  that  it  would  be  extremely 
dangerous  for  Dr.  White  to  go  up  to  meet  his  engagements.  Their 
opinion  was,  that  in  all  probability  he  and  the  party  which  he  might 
think  proper  to  take  with  him  would  be  cut  off.  But  it  was  the 
opinion  of  many  judicious  persons  in  the  settlement,  that  the  welfare 
of  the  Indians,  and  the  peace  and  security  of  the  whites,  demanded 
that  some  persons  qualified  to  negotiate  with  the  Indians  should  pro 
ceed  immediately  to  the  scene  of  disaffection,  and  if  possible  remove 
the  cause  of  the  excitement  by  correcting  the  error  under  which  the 
Indians  labored.  Accordingly  Dr.  White  engaged  twelve  men  be- 


INDIANS  OPPOSED   TO  AMERICANS.  30T 

Rides  myself,  mostly  French-Canadians  who  had  had  much  experience 
with  Indians,  to  go  with  him ;  but  a  few  days  before  the  time  fixed 
upon  to  start  had  arrived,  they  all  sent  him  word  that  they  had 
decided  not  to  go.  They  were  doubtless  induced  to  pursue  this  course 
through  the  influence  of  Dr.  McLaughlin  and  the  Catholic  priests." 

Most  likely,  Mr;  Hines,  but  you  seem  to  be  afraid  to  express  a 
decided  opinion,  even  after  they  have  accomplished  their  object. 

"  When  the  day  arrived  for  starting,  we  found  ourselves  abandoned 
by  every  person  who  had  engaged  to  go,  except  Mr.  Gr.  W.  Le  Breton, 
an  American,  one  Indian  boy,  and  one  Kanaka.  With  the  two  latter 
the  doctor  and  myself  left  the  Wallamet  settlement  on  the  25th  of 
April,  1843,  and  proceeded  on  horseback  to  the  Butte,  where  we  found 
Le  Breton  in  waiting  for  us.  He  had  provided  a  canoe  and  a  few 
pieces  of  pork  and  beef  for  our  use  on  the  voyage. 

"  Here  we  met  a  letter  from  Dr.  John  McLaughlin,  at  Vancouver, 
discouraging  us  from  our  undertaking  in  view  of  the  difficulties  and 
dangers  attending  such  an  expedition ;  but  we  had  counted  the  cost, 
and  were  not  to  be  diverted  from  our  purpose,  though  danger  stared 
us  in  the  face.  We  supposed  that  if  the  Indians  entertained  any  hos 
tile  intentions  against  the  whites  in  general,  there  could  be  no  better 
way  to  defeat  their  purposes  than  to  go  among  them  ;  convince  them 
that  they  had  no  grounds  of  fear;  and  that  the  whites,  instead  of 
designing  to  bring  them  into  subjection,  were  desirous  of  doing  them 
good.  Prevented  by  one  thing  and  another  from  setting  sail,  on  the 
night  of  the  27th  we  slept  on  a  bank  of  sand  at  the  Butte,  and  next 
day  proceeded  in  our  little  canoe  down  to  Wallamet  Falls,  where  we 
continued  until  the  29th.  Here  we  received  another  package  from  Dr. 
McLaughlin,  giving  us  information  that  Rev.  Mr.  Demerse,  a  Catholic 
priest,  had  just  come  down  from  the  upper  country,  bringing  intel 
ligence  that  the  Indians  are  only  incensed  against  the  Boston  people ; 
that  they  have  nothing  against  the  French  and  King  George  people ; 
they  are  not  mad  at  them,  but  are  determined  that  the  Boston  people 
shall  not  have  their  lands,  and  take  away  their  liberties. 

"  On  receiving  this  intelligence  from  Mr.  Demerse,  Dr.  McLaughlin 
advised  the  Frenchmen,  who  had  engaged  to  go  with  Dr.  White,  to 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  quarrel,  to  remain  quiet  at  home,  and  let 
the  Americans  take  care  of  themselves.  He  also  expressed,  in  his  let 
ter,  the  opinion  that  all  the  people  should  remain  quiet,  and  in  all 
probability  the  excitement  among  the  Indians  would  soon  subside. 

"  Not  seeing  sufficient  reason  to  change  our  course,  on  the  morning  of 
the  28th  we  left  our  hospitable  friends  at  the  falls  and  continued  our 
course  down  the  Wallamet  toward  Vancouver.  At  noon  we  had  sailed 


308  HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 

twenty  miles,  and  stopped  for  dinner  within  five  miles  of  the  mouth  of 
the  Wallamet,  on  a  low  piece  of  ground,  overgrown  with  luxuriant 
grass,  but  which  is  always  overflowed  at  the  rise  of  the  Columbia,  or 
about  the  first  of  June.  Weighed  anchor  after  dinner,  and  at  four 
o'clock,  P.  M.,  arrived  at  Vancouver.  Called  on  Dr.  McLaughlin  for 
goods,  provisions,  powder,  balls,  etc.,  for  our  accommodation  on  our 
voyage  up  the  Columbia,  and,  though  he  was  greatly  surprised  that, 
under  the  circumstances,  we  should  think  of  going  among  those  excited 
Indians,  yet  he  ordered  his  clerks  to  let  us  have  whatever  we  wanted. 
However,  we  found  it  rather  squally  at  the  fort,  not  so  much  on  account 
of  our  going  among  the  Indians  of  the  interior,  as  in  consequence  of  a 
certain  memorial  having  been  sent  to  the  United  States  Congress,  im 
plicating  the  conduct  of  Dr.  McLaughlin  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany,  and  bearing  the  signature  of  seventy  Americans.  I  inquired  of 
the  doctor  if  he  had  refused  to  grant  supplies  to  those  Americans  who 
had  signed  that  document ;  he  replied  that  he  had  not,  but  that  the 
authors  of  the  memorial  need  expect  no  more  favors  from  him.  Not 
being  one  of  the  authors,  but  merely  a  signer  of  the  petition,  I  did  not 
come  under  the  ban  of  the  company  •  consequently  I  obtained  my  outfit 
for  the  expedition,  though  at  first  there  were  strong  indications  that  I 
would  be  refused. 

"  We  remained  at  the  fort  over  night  and  a  part  of  the  next  day,  and 
after  a  close  conversation  with  the  gentleman  in  command,  were  treated 
with  great  courtesy." 


CHAPTER  XL. 

A  combination  of  facts. — Settlers  alive  to  their  danger. — Mr.  Hines'  disparagement  of 
the  Methodist  Mission. — Indians  want  pay  for  being  whipped. — Indian  honesty. — 
Mr.  Hines'  opinion  of  the  Indians'  religion. — Mr.  G-eiger's  advice. — Dr.  McLaughlin's 
answer  to  Yellow  Serpent. — Baptiste  Doreo. — Four  conflicting  influences. 

WE  now  have  before  us  a  combination  of  facts  and  statements  that 
no  one  living  at  the  time  they  occurred  will  attempt  to  deny.  Shortess 
and  others  still  live  to  vouch  for  the  truth  of  what  is  written.  If 
Mr.  Hines  has  shawn  the  least  partiality  in  his  writings,  it  is  strong 
ly  in  favor  of  influences  that  were  operating  against  him  and  the 
cause  he  advocated ;  while  such  men  as  Rogers,  Le  Breton,  Wilson, 
Whitman,  and  others  still  living,  spoke  and  acted  the  American  senti 
ment  of  the  country.  Mr.  Hines  and  Dr.  White  had  received  two 
packages  from  Dr.  McLaughlin  advising  them  not  to  go  to  the  interior, 
and  the  Jesuit  priest,  Demerse,  had  come  down  bringing  word  that 
the  "  quarrel "  was  not  with  the  French  and  English,  and  that  Dr.  Mo-  < 
Laughlin  advised  his  Frenchmen  to  remain  at  home  and  let  the  Ameri 
cans  take  care  of  themselves.  Mr.  Brewer  is  deceived  as  to  the  cause 
of  the  war  rumors  about  him,  and  seems  solicitous  only  about  the  In 
dians.  With  all  these  facts,  as  given  by  Mr.  Hines,  with  his  ability  and 
experience,  we  are  at  a  loss  to  understand  how  it  is  that  he  could 
take  notes  and  publish,  in  1851,  statements  as  above  quoted,  and  then 
proceed  with  the  account  that  follows,  rather  excusing  Dr.  McLaughlin 
and  the  priests  in  the  part  they  are  taking  in  attempting  to  crush  the 
American  settlement,  and  actually  aiding  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
in  combining  and  marshaling  the  savages  to  weaken  and  destroy  his 
countrymen  ! 

The  writer  does  not  believe  he  intended  to  do  any  thing  of  the  kind, 
yet  the  influences  brought  to  bear  upon  him  were  such  that  he  became 
an  active  instrument  with  Dr.  White  to  accomplish  the  one  great  object 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  English  government,  and  becomes 
the  apologist  for  a  premeditated  and  deliberate  murder  of  his  country 
men.  The  Whitman  massacre  he  does  not  even  mention. 

The  settlers  were  alive  to  their  danger.  They  had  no  head,  no  or 
ganization,  no  one  to  look  to  for  supplies  or  protection.  They  knew 
that  the  sub-agent  of  the  United  States  government  was  the  dupe  of 


310  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

their  worst  enemy,  and  had  betrayed  them.  They  knew  that  it  was 
the  policy  and  disposition  of  the  missions  to  keep  them  under  their 
control. 

We  are  fully  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  leading  clergymen  of  all  the 
missions  attempt  to  deny  the  position  above  stated.  But  in  the  cove 
nant  of  Mr.  Griffin  with  Mr.  Hunger,  he  admits  that  the  articles  of 
compact  and  arrangement  of  the  various  missionary  societies  all  affirm 
the  one  principle,  that  laymen  or  members  of  their  societies  were  sub 
ject  to  the  orders  and  dictation  of  the  clergymen,  not  only  in  religious, 
but  all  financial  and  secular  matters, — hence  the  disposition  and  deter 
mination  on  the  part  of  these  clerical  gentlemen  to  govern  the  early 
settlement  of  the  country.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  system  of 
absolute  government  was  favorable  to  this  idea.  The  Jesuit  priests, 
who  combined  their  influence  with  the  company,  all  contributed  to 
oppress  and  keep  down  the  settler.  While  the  pi;iests  were  active  in 
combining  and  preparing  the  Indians  in  middle  Oregon  to  rob  and  de 
stroy  the  emigrant  on  his  lonely,  weary,  toilsome  way  to  this  country, 
their  agents  and  principal  clerks  were  equally  active  in  shaping  matters 
in  the  various  neighborhoods  and  settlements  west  of  the  Cascades. 

On  the  156th  page  of  Mr.  Ilines'  book  he  gives  us  a  short  summary 
of  the  labors  of  Revs.  Daniel  Lee,  H.  K.  W.  Perkins,  and  Mr.  H.  B. 
Brewer :  "  They  are  laboring  to  establish  a  permanent  mission  at  this 
place  [the  Dalles]  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indians,  but  with  doubtful  suc 
cess."  That  the  Methodist  Mission  should  be  misled  and  become  ineffi 
cient  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  when  such  men  as  Mr.  Ilines,  holding 
the  position  and  assuming  a  controlling  influence  as  he  did,  should  ex 
press  himself  in  the  language  quoted  above.  The  "  doubtful  success  " 
attending  all  the  missionary  labors  of  the  Methodist  Mission  was  un 
questionably  attributable  to  the  opinions  of  just  such  men,  privately 
and  publicly  expressed,  with  corresponding  "doubtful"  and  divided 
labors,  while  the  ignorance  of  the  religious  supporters  of  the  Roman 
missions  enabled  them  to  deceive  their  neophytes  and  patrons,  and  keep 
up  their  own  missions  and  destroy  those  of  the  Protestants. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Hines  and  party  arrived  at  the  Dalles,  some  twenty 
Indians  assembled  to  have  a  talk  with  Dr.  White,  who  had  in  his  visit 
in  the  fall  of  1842  prevailed  upon  this  band  to  organize  an  Indian 
government  by  appointing  one  high  chief  and  three  subordinates  to 
see  that  all  violators  of  his  rules  were  punished  by  being  flogged 
for  offenses  that  formerly  were  considered  trifling  and  evidence  of 
native  cunning  and  smartness.  As  was  to  be  expected,  some  of  the 
Indians  would  resist  and  use  their  knives  and  weapons  in  their  own 
defense. 


ANECDOTES  OF  INDIANS. 

There  is  an  interesting  incident  related  by  Mr.  Hines,  in  reference  to 
Indian  character,  on  his  157th  page: — 

"  The  Indians  want  pay  for  being  whipped,  in  compliance  with  Dr. 
White's  laws,  the  same  as  they  did  for  praying  to  please  the  mission 
aries,  during  the  great  Indian  revival  of  1839.  Those  appointed  by 
Dr.  White  were  desirous  that  his  regulations  should  continue,  because 
they  placed  the  people  under  their  absolute  control,  and  gave  them  the 
power  to  regulate  all  their  intercourse  with  the  whites,  and  with  the 
other  Indian  tribes.  But  the  other  influential  men  who  were  not  in 
office  desired  to  know  of  Dr.  White  of  what  benefit  this  whipping  sys 
tem  was  going  to  be  to  them.  They  said  they  were  willing  it  should 
continue,  provided  they  were  to  receive  shirts  and  pants  and  blankets 
as  a  reward  for  being  whipped.  They  had  been  whipped  a  good  many 
times  and  had  got  nothing  for  it,  and  it  had  done  them  no  good.  If  this 
state  of  things  was  to  continue,  it  was  all  cultus,  good  for  nothing,  and 
they  would  throw  it  away.  The  doctor  wished  them  to  understand 
that  they  need  not  expect  pay  for  being  flogged  when  they  deserved  it. 
They  laughed  at  the  idea,  and  separated." 

Just  here  the  writer  will  give  one  other  incident,  related  of  Yallop, 
an  Indian  belonging  to  the  same  tribe,  as  stated  by  Rev.  Mr.  Condon, 
of  the  Dalles  :— 

"  Yallop  was  requested  to  remain  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Joslin  during  the 
absence  of  the  family,  one  cold  day,  and  see  that  nothing  was  disturbed, 
with  the  understanding  that  he  was  to  go  into  the  house  and  make 
himself  comfortable  till  the  family  returned.  On  coming  home  they 
found  the  Indian  outdoors  under  a  tree,  cold  and  nearly  frozen.  They 
inquired  the  reason  of  his  strange  conduct,  and  wanted  to  know  why 
he  did  not  stay  in  the  house.  Yallop  said  he  went  into  the  house  and 
found  every  thing  so  nice  and  comfortable  that  by  and  by  the  old  Indian 
came  into  him  again  and  he  wanted  to  steal  all  there  was  in  the  house, 
and  the  only  way  he  could  get  over  that  feeling  was  to  go  out  under 
the  tree  in  the  cold." 

Mr.  Hines,  in  speaking  of  this  same  band,  says,  158th  page:  "  As  a 
matter  of  course,  lying  has  much  to  do  in  their  system  of  trade,  and 
he  is  the  best  fellow  who  can  tell  the  biggest  lie,  make  men  believe  it, 
and  practice  the  greatest  deception.  A  few  years  ago  a  great  religious 
excitement  prevailed  among  these  Indians,  and  nearly  the  whole  tribe, 
consisting  of  a  thousand,  professed  to  be  converted,  were  baptized,  and 
received  into  the  Christian  church ;  but  they  have  nearly  all  relapsed 
into  their  former  state,  with  the  exception  that  many  of  them  still  keep 
up  the  outward  form  of  religion. 

"Their  religion  appears  to  be  more  of  the  head  than  of  the  heart, 


312  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

and  though  they  are  exceedingly  vicious,  yet  doubtless  they  would 
be  much  worse  than  they  are,  but  for  the  " — ("  doubtful  success,"  as  Mr. 
Hines  affirms  on  his  156th  page,  while  here  he  says) — "restraining  in 
fluences  exerted  by  the  missionaries." 

Mr.  Hines  has  given  us  an  interesting  history  of  those  early  mission 
ary  labors,  but  the  greater  portion  of  his  book  relates  to  himself, — to 
his  travels  on  shipboard,  and  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  a  trip  to  China 
and  back  to  New  York,  and  his  trip  to  the  interior  of  Oregon. 

He  says :  "  The  Cayuse  Indians,  among  whom  this  mission  is  estab 
lished,  had  freely  communicated  to  Mr.  Geiger,  whom  they  esteemed 
as  their  friend,  all  they  knew  concerning  it.  When  the  Indians  were 
told  that  the  Americans  were  designing  to  subjugate  them  and  take 
away  their  land,  the  young  chiefs  of  the  Cayuse  tribe  were  in  favor  of 
proceeding  immediately  to  hostilities.  They  were  for  raising  a  large 
war  party  and  rushing  directly  down  to  the  Wallamet  settlement  and 
cutting  oif  the  inhabitants  at  a  blow.  They  frequently  remarked  to  Mr. 
Geiger  that  they  did  not  wish  to  go  to  war,  but  if  the  Americans  came 
to  take  away  their  lands  and  make  slaves  of  them  they  would  fight  so 
long  as  they  had  a  drop  of  blood  to  shed.  They  said  they  had  received 
their  information  concerning  the  designs  of  the  Americans  from  Bap- 
tiste  Doreo,  who  is  a  half-breed  son  of  Madame  Doreo, — the  heroine  of 
Washington  Irving's  (  Astoria,' — understands  the  N"ez  Perce  language 
well,  and  had  given  the  Cayuses  the  information  that  had  alarmed 
them.  Mr.  Geiger  endeavored  to  induce  them  to  prepare  early  in  the 
spring  to  cultivate  the  ground  as  they  did  the  year  before,  but  they 
refused  to  do  any  thing,  saying  that  Baptiste  Doreo  had  told  them  that 
it  would  be  of  no  consequence ;  that  the  Americans  would  come  in  the 
Bummer  and  kill  them  all  oif  and  destroy  their  plantations. 

"  After  Doreo  had  told  them  this  story,  they  sent  a  Wallawalla  chief 
— Yellow  Serpent — to  Vancouver,  to  learn  from  Dr.  McLaughlin  the 
facts  in  the  case. 

"Yellow  Serpent  returned  and  told  theCayuses  that  Dr.  McLaughlin 
said  he  had  nothing  to  do  in  a  war  with  the  Indians  ;  that  he  did  not 
believe  the  Americans  designed  to  attack  them,  and  that  if  the  Ameri 
cans,  did  go  to  war  with  the  Indians,  the  Hudswfs  Bay  Company 
would  not  assist  them.  After  they  got  this  information  from  the 
Emakus  Myohut  (big  chief),  the  Indians  became  more  calm.  Many 
of  them  went  to  cultivating  the  ground  as  formerly,  and  a  large  num 
ber  of  little  patches  had  been  planted  and  sown  before  we  arrived  at 
the  station." 

Mr.  Hines  soon  learned  that  the  reports  about  war  that  had  reached 
the  lower  country  were  not  without  foundation.  That  the  Indians  still 


POUR  INFLUENCES.  313 

had  confidence  in  Mr.  Geiger,  and  that  they  did  not  wish  to  go  to  war. 
The  reader  will  observe  the  statement  of  the  Indians  after  they  had  told 
Mr.  Geiger  they  would  fight  if  forced  to  do  so.  "They,"  the  Indians, 
"  said  they  had  received  their  information  concerning  the  designs  of 
the  Americans  from  Baptiste  Doreo."  This  half-breed  is  also  an  inter 
preter  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  an  important  leader  among 
the  half-breeds — next  to  Thomas  McKay.  After  Doreo  had  told  them 
his  story,  the  Indians  were  still  unwilling  to  commence  a  war  against 
the  Americans.  They  sent  a  messenger  to  Vancouver  to  consult  Dr. 
McLanghlin,  just  as  these  same  Indians  in  1841  went  to  Mr.  McKinley, 
then  in  charge  of  Fort  Wallawalla,  and  wanted  to  know  of  him,  if  it 
was  not  good  for  them  to  drive  Dr.  Whitman  and  Mr.  Gray  away  from 
that  station  because  the  Doctor  refused  to  pay  them  for  the  land  the 
mission  occupied?  Mr.  McKinley  understood  their  object,  and  was 
satisfied  that  there  were  outside  influences  that  he  did  not  approve  of, 
and  told  the  Indians,  "  Yes,  you  are  braves ;  there  is  a  number  of  you, 
and  but  two  of  them  and  two  women  and  some  little  children  ;  you  can 
go  and  kill  them  or  drive  them  away ;  you  go  just  as  quick  as  you  can 
and  do  it ;  but  if  you  do  I  will  see  that  you  are  punished."  The  Indians 
understood  Mr.  McKinley.  Whitman  and  Gray  were  not  disturbed 
after  this. 

Dr.  John  McLanghlin  we  believe  to  have  been  one  of  the  noblest  of 
men  while  he  lived,  but,  like  Messrs.  Hines,  White,  Burnett,  Newell, 
Spalding,  and  many  others,  influences  were  brought  to  bear  upon  him 
that  led  him  to  adopt  and  pursue  a  doubtful  if  not  a  crooked  course. 
It  was  evident  to  any  one  conversant  with  the  times  of  which  we  are 
writing  that  there  were  at  least  four  elements  or  influences  operating  in 
the  country,  viz.,  the  unassorted  or  quasi  rights  of  the  American 
government ;  the  coveted  and  actual  occupancy  of  the  country  by  the 
English  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  subjects,  having  the  active  civil 
organization  of  that  government ;  the  occupancy  of  the  country  by  tho 
American  missions ;  and  the  coveted  occupancy  of  the  same  by  the 
Roman  Jesuit  missions. 

These  four  influences  could  not  harmonize  ;  there  was  no  such  thing  as 
a  union  and  co-operation.  The  struggle  was  severe  to  hold  and  gain  the 
controlling  influence  over  the  natives  of  the  country,  and  shape  the  settle 
ments  to  these  conflicting  views  and  national  and  sectarian  feelings. 
The  American  settler,  gaining  courage  and  following  the  example  and 
the  track  of  the  American  missionaries  with  their  wives,  winds  his  way 
over  the  mountains  and  through  the  desert  and  barren  plains  down  the 
Columbia  River  and  through  the  Cascade  Mountains, — weary,  way 
worn,  naked,  and  hungry.  In  one  instance,  with  his  rifle  upon  his 


314:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

shoulder,  and  his  wife  and  three  children  mounted  upon  the  back  of 
his  last  ox,  he  plods  his  weary  way  through  Oregon  City,  and  up  the 
Wallamet,  to  find  his  future  home ;  and  there  the  warm  heart  of  the 
early  missionary  and  his  family  is  ready  to  feed,  clothe,  and  welcome 
the  wanderer  to  this  distant  part  of  our  great  national  domain,  in  order 
that  he  may  aid  in  securing  Oregon  to  its  rightful  inhabitants,  and  in 
forming  a  fifth  power  that  shall  supersede  and  drive  away  all  foreign 
influences. 

For  a  time  the  struggle  with  the  four  influences  was  severe  and 
doubtful ;  but  men  who  had  crossed  the  Rocky  and  Cascade  mountains 
with  ox-teams,  were  not  made  to  give  up  their  country's  cause  in  the 
hour  of  danger,  though  Britain  and  Rome,  with  their  savage  allies,  joined 
to  subdue  and  drive  them  from  it.  With  the  British  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  Roman  Jesuit  missions,  savage  Indians,  American  missions, 
and  American  settlers  the  struggle  is  continued. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

Governor  Simpson  and  Dr.  "Whitman  in  "Washington. — Interviews  with  Daniel  "Webster 
and  President  Tyler. — His  cold  reception  in  Boston  by  the  American  Board. — 
Conducts  a  large  emigration  safely  across  the  Rocky  Mountains  into  Oregon. — The 
"  Memorial  Half-Century  Volume." — The  Oregon  mission  ignored  by  the  American 
Board. — Dr.  McLaughlin. — His  connection  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. — 
Catholic  Cayuses'  manner  of  praying. — Rev.  C.  Eells.— Letter  from  A.  L.  Lovejoy. 
— Description  of  Whitman's  and  Lovejoy's  winter  journey  from  Oregon  to  Bent's 
Fort  on  the  Arkansas  River. 

GOVERNOR  SIMPSON,  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  had  reached 
Washington  and  been  introduced  to  Mr.  Webster,  then  Secretary  of 
State,  by  the  British  Minister.  All  the  influence  a  long-established 
and  powerful  monopoly,  backed  by  the  grasping  disposition  of  the 
English  government,  can  command,  is  brought  to  bear  upon  the  ques 
tion  of  the  northwestern  boundary.  The  executive  of  the  American 
republic  is  about  ready  to  give  up  the  country,  as  of  little  value  to  the 
nation. 

Just  at  this  time,  in  the  dead  of  winter,  an  awkward,  tall,  spare-vis- 
aged,  vigorous,  off-hand  sort  of  a  man,  appeared  at  the  Department  in 
his  mountain  traveling  garb,  consisting  of  a  dark-colored  blanket  coat 
and  buckskin  pants,  showing  that  to  keep  himself  from  freezing  to 
death  he  had  been  compelled  to  lie  down  close  to  his  camp-fire  while  in 
the  mountains,  and  on  his  way  to  Washington  he  had  not  stopped  for  a 
moment,  but  pushed  on  with  a  vigor  and  energy  peculiarly  his  own.  It 
is  but  justice  to  say  of  this  man  that  his  heart  and  soul  were  in  the 
object  of  the  errand  for  which  he  had  traversed  the  vast  frozen  and 
desert  regions  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  accomplish  which  was  to 
defeat  the  plans  of  the  company,  as  shown  by  the  taunting  reply  of  the 
Briton,  "  that  no  power  could  make  known  to  his  government  the  pur 
poses  of  those  who  had  laid  their  plans  and  were  ready  to  grasp  the 
prize  they  souyht"  While  they  were  counting  on  wealth,  power,  influ 
ence,  and  the  undisputed  possession  of  a  vast  and  rich  country,  this  old 
pioneer  missionary  (layman  though  he  was),  having  no  thought  of  him 
self  or  of  his  ridiculous  appearance  before  the  great  Daniel  Webster 
and  the  President  of  a  greaPt  nation,  sought  an  interview  with  them  and 
stated  his  object,  and  the  plans  and  purposes  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  and  the  British  government :  that  their  representations  of  this 


316  HISTORY  OF  OREGOK 

country  were  false  in  every  respect  as  regards  its  agricultural,  mineral, 
and  commercial  value  to  the  nation ;  that  it  was  only  to  secure  the 
country  to  themselves,  that  the  false  reports  about  it  had  been  put  in 
circulation  by  their  emissaries  and  agents ;  that  a  wagon  road  to  the 
Pacific  was  practicable  ;  that  he  had,  in  1836,  in  opposition  to  all  their 
false  statements  and  influence  to  the  contrary,  taken  a  wagon  to  Boise ; 
and  that,  in  addition,  wagons  and  teams  had,  in  1841,  been  taken  to  the 
Wullamet  Valley,  and  that  he  expected,  his  life  being  spared,  to  pilot 
an  emigration  to  the  country  that  would  forever  settle  the  question 
beyond  further  dispute.  He  asserted  that  a  road  was  practicable,  and 
the  country  was  invaluable  to  the  American  people.  Mr.  Webster 
coolly  informed  him  that  he  had  his  mind  made  up ;  he  was  ready  to 
part  with  what  was  to  him  an  unknown  and  unimportant  portion  of 
our  national  domain,  for  the  privilege  of  a  small  settlement  in  Maine 
and  the  fisheries  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland. 

There  was  but  one  other  hope  in  this  case.  This  old  off-hand  Oregon 
missionary  at  once  sought  an  interview  with  President  Tyler.  He 
repeated  his  arguments  and  reasons,  and  asked  for  delay  in  the  final 
settlement  of  the  boundary  question,  which,  to  those  high  in  office,  and, 
we  may  add,  total  ignorance  of  all  that  related  to  this  vast  country, 
was  of  small  moment.  But  that  Dr.  Whitman  (for  the  reader  has 
already  guessed  the  name  of  our  missionary)  stood  before  the  President 
of  the  United  States  the  only  representative  of  Oregon  and  all  her 
future  interests  and  greatness,  a  self-constituted,  self-appointed,  and 
without  a  parallel  self-periled  representative,  pleading  simply  for  delay 
in  the  settlement  of  so  vast  and  important  a  question  to  his  country, — 
that  he  should  be  able  to  successfully  contend  with  the  combined 
influences  brought  against  him, — can  only  be  attributed  to  that  over 
ruling  power  which  had  decreed  that  the  nation,  whose  interests  he 
represented,  should  be  sustained. 

Mr.  Tyler,  after  listening  to  the  Doctor's  statements  with  far  more 
candor  and  interest  than  Mr.  Webster  was  disposed  to  do,  informed  him 
that,  notwithstanding  they  had  received  entirely  different  statements 
from  gentlemen  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  British  minister, 
then  in  Washington,  yet  he  would  trust  to  his  personal  representation 
and  estimate  of  the  value  of  the  country  to  the  American  people.  He 
said:  "Dr.  Whitman,  in  accordance  with  your  representations  and 
agreeable  to  your  request,  this  question  shall  be  deferred.  An  escort 
shall  be  furnished  for  the  protection  of  the  emigration  you  propose  to 
conduct  to  that  distant  country."  % 

It  is  with  deep  regret,  not  to  say  shame,  that  truth  and  justice  compel 
us  to  give  in  this  connection  any  notice  of  this  faithful  and  devoted. 


DR.   WHITMAN'S  RETURN   TO   OREGON.  317 

missionary's  reception  and  treatment,  on  his  arrival  in  Boston,  derog 
atory  to  the  Board  whom  he  had  served  so  faithfully  for  seven  years. 
Instead  of  being  received  and  treated  as  his  labors  justly  entitled  him  to 
be,  he  met  the  cold,  calculating  rebuke  for  unreasonable  expenses,  and 
for  dangers  incurred  without  order  or  instructions  or  permission  from 
the  mission  to  come  to  the  States.  Most  of  his  reverend  associates 
had,  as  the  writer  "is  credibly  informed,  disapproved  of  his  visit  to 
Washington,  being  ignorant  of  the  true  cause  of  his  sudden  determina 
tion  to  defeat,  if  possible,  the  British  and  Jesuitical  designs  upon  the 
country ;  hence,  for  economical  and  prudential  reasons,  the  Board  re 
ceived  him  coldly,  and  rebuked  him  for  his  presence  before  them,  caus 
ing  a  chili  in  his  warm  and  generous  heart,  and  a  sense  of  unmerited 
rebuke  from  those  who  should  have  been  most  willing  to  listen  to  all  his 
statements,  and  most  cordial  and  ready  to  sustain  him  in  his  herculean 
labors. 

His  request  at  Washington  to  save  this  richest  jewel  of  our  nation 
from  British  rule  is  granted,  while  the  American  Board  of  Commis 
sioners  for  Foreign  Missions  is  appealed  to  in  vain  for  aid  to  save  the 
Indians  and  the  country  from  becoming  the  boast  of  the  Italian  Jesuit, 
and  a  prey  to  his  degrading  superstitions.  The  Doctor's  mission,  with 
all  its  accumulated  influence,  labors,  and  importance,  is  left  to  be  swal 
lowed  up  and  destroyed  by  the  same  influence  that  had  divided  and 
destroyed  that  of  the  Methodist  Mission. 

Dr.  Whitman  disposed  of  his  own  little  private  property  in  the 
States,  and,  with  the  aid  of  his  brother  and  brother's  son,  returned  to 
Missouri,  joined  the  emigration  of  1843,  and,  as  he  had  intimated  to 
President  Tyler,  brought  on  an  emigration  outnumbering  all  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company  had  brought  to  aid  in  securing  the  country  to  the 
British  crown,  proving  to  the  American  people  and  the  world,  what 
had  long  been  asserted  as  impossible,  that  there  was  a  practicable 
wagon  road  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  on  American  soil.  His  care,  influence, 
aid,  and  attention  to  the  emigration  of  1843,  I  leave  with  those  who 
can  speak  from  personal  observation.  Their  gratitude  and  deep  sym 
pathy  for  this  self-devoted,  faithful,  and  generous  missionary  led  five 
hundred  of  them  with  uplifted  hand  to  say  they  were  ready  with  their 
own  life-blood  to  avenge  his  death,  and  protect  and  defend  the  coun 
try.  But  influences,  such  as  we  have  been  speaking  of,  came  in,  justice 
was  robbed  of  its  right,  and  crime  and  murder  permitted  to  go  un 
punished. 

The  cause  in  which  Dr.  Whitman  enlisted,  labored,  and  fell  a  victim, 
is  allowed  to  suffer  and  fall,  and  in  a  Memorial  Volume  of  the  American 
Board,  page  379,  a  false  impression  is  given  to  the  world,  and  a  whole 


318  HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 

mission  ignored.  In  this  splendid,  well-bound,  and  elegantly  gotten  up 
"  Memorial  Half-Century  Volume,"  justly  claiming  much  credit  for  the 
fifty  past  years  of  its  labors,  this  Board  has  ignored  all  its  errors  and 
mistakes,  and  with  one  fell  swoop  of  the  pen  consigned  to  oblivion,  so 
far  as  its  great  standard  record  is  concerned,  one  whole  mission  and  a 
vast  Indian  population,  as  unworthy  of  a  name  or  a  notice  in  their 
record,  further  than  as  "  Rev.  Samuel  Parker's  exploring  tour  beyond 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  under  the  direction  of  the  Board,  in  1835,  1836, 
and  1837,  brought  to  light  no  field  for  a  great  and  successful  mission, 
but  it  added  much  to  the  science  of  geography,  and  is  remarkable  as 
having  made  known  a  practicable  route  for  a  railroad  from  the  Mis 
sissippi  to  the  Pacific."  This  shows  a  want  of  candor  and  also  a  dis 
position  to  ignore  all  influences  and  causes  of  failure  of  one  of  their  own 
missions,  and  directs  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  foreign  objects, 
leaving  their  missions  to  become  an  easy  prey  to  avarice,  the  Indian 
tribes  to  ignorance  and  superstition,  and  their  missionaries  to  be  despised 
and  superseded  by  Jesuits ;  giving  their  enemies  the  benefit  of  that 
influence  which  they  should  have  exerted  to  save  their  own  missionary 
cause.  Such  being  the  case,  we  are  not  to  wonder  at  the  cold  reception 
of  Dr.  Whitman,  or  the  boundless  influence  and  avarice  of  the  men  who 
compassed  the  early  destruction  of  that  mission ;  and,  failing  to  destroy 
the  American  settlement,  that  they  should  now  seek  to  rob  our  national 
treasury  as  they  sought  to  rob  the  nation  of  its  rightful  domain.  After 
being  defeated  by  the  American  settlers  in  the  organization  of  the  pro 
visional  government  in  1843,  by  the  provisional  army  of  1847-8,  they 
now  come  forward  with  the  most  barefaced  effrontery  and  claim  mil 
lions  of  dollars  for  a  few  old  rotten  forts.  They  have  fallen  to  the 
lowest  depths  of  crime  to  obtain  compensation  for  improvements  of  no 
real  value. 

As  we  said  when  speaking  of  the  "  combination  of  influences  and  no 
harmony,"  we  believe  Dr.  John  McLaughlin  to  have  been  one  of  the 
best  and  noblest  of  men  ;  yet  the  governing  power  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  would,  if  it  were  possible,  have  compelled  him  to  starve 
the  immigrants,  and  sacrifice  all  the  early  settlers  of  the  country. 
Do  you  ask  me  how  I  know  this?  I  answer,  by  the  oaths  of  good  and 
true  American  citizens,  and  by  my  own  personal  knowledge.  These 
depositions  or  statements  under  oath  but  few  of  the  readers  of  this 
history  will  ever  see.  In  this  connection  we  will  give  part  of  one 
deposition  we  listened  to  and  penciled  down  from  the  mouth  of  the 
witness,  who  was  the  legal  counselor  and  confidential  friend  of  Dr. 
McLaughlin  from  the  fall  of  1846  till  his  death.  This  witness,  in  answer*" 
to  the  inquiry  as  to  what  Dr.  McLaughlin  told  him  about  the  Hudson's 


A  NOBLE   MAN.  319 

Bay  Company's  encouraging  the  early  settlement  of  Oregon,  said  Dr. 
McLaughlin  had  not  encouraged  the  American  settlement  of  the  country, 
but  from  the  fact  that  immigrants  arrived  poor  and  needy,  they  must 
have  suffered  had  he.  not  furnished  supplies  on  a  credit ;  that  he  could 
have  wished  that  this  had  not  been  necessary,  because  he  believed  there 
were  those  above  him  who  strongly  disapproved  of  his  course  in  this 
respect,  affirming  that  it  would  lead  to  the  permanent  settlement  of  the 
country  by  American  citizens,  and  thus  give  to  the  United  States  gov 
ernment  an  element  of  title  to  the  country ;  the  United  States  govern 
ment  could  not  have  a  title  to  the  country  without  such  settlement, 
and  these  persons,  thus  alluded  to  as  being  dissatisfied,  would  report 
him  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  house  in  London ;  that  he  ascer 
tained  finally  that  such  complaints  had  been  made,  but  that  he  still 
continued  to  furnish  the  supplies,  because,  as  a  man  of  common  human 
ity,  he  could  not  do  otherwise ;  and  he  resolved  that  he  would  con 
tinue  thus  to  do  and  take  whatever  consequences  might  result  from  it ; 
that  the  company's  managing  and  controlling  office  in  London  did 
finally  call  him  to  an  account  for  thus  furnishing  supplies  as  already 
stated,  and  for  reasons  indicated ;  that  he  represented  to  them  the 
circumstances  under  which  he  had  furnished  these  supplies,  alleging  that 
as  a  man  of  common  humanity  it  was  not  possible  for  him  to  do  other 
wise  than  as  he  did  j  that  he  foresaw  as  clearly  as  they  did  that  it 
aided  in  the  American  settlement  of  the  country,  but  that  this  he  could 
not  help,  and  it  was  not  for  him  but  for  God  and  government  to  look 
after  and  take  care  of  the  consequences ;  that  the  Bible  told  him,  "  If 
thine  enemy  hunger,  feed  him ;  if  he  is  naked,  clothe  him ;"  that  these 
settlers  were  not  even  enemies ;  that  in  thus  finding  fault  with  him 
they  quarreled  with  heaven  (the  witness  said,  "  I  do  not  know  as  that 
was  the  exact  expression  or  word")  for  doing  what  any  one  truly 
worthy  the  name  of  a  man  could  not  hesitate  to  do,  and  that  he  imme 
diately  concluded  by  indignantly  saying,  "  Gentlemen,  if  such  is  your 
order,  I  will  serve  you  no  longer"  and  from  that  day  Oregon  secured 
a  warm  and  faithful  friend  in  that  old  white-headed  man,  and  he  a  base 
and  infamous  enemy  in  those  who  claimed  the  title  of  the  Honorable 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  who  in  1866  are  claiming  all  the  credit  and 
pay  for  this  old  man's  generous  and  noble  deeds. 

The  readers  of  our  history  will  excuse  this  interruption  in  the  order 
of  events,  or  rather  the  introduction  of  this  testimony  at  this  time  in 
our  sketches,  for  we  shall  still  have  to  speak  of  Dr.  McLaughlin  as  the 
head  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  continue  him  as  a  representa 
tive  of  that  influence,  as  also  connected  with  the  Roman  Catholic 
efforts  in  the  country ;  for  while  we  condemn  and  speak  of  base  and 


320  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

infamous  acts  in  all  alike,  we  will  not  forget  the  good  and  the  noble. 
We  have  other  items  of  testimony  that  reveal  to  us  the  deep-laid  plans, 
the  vast  influence  used,  and  efforts  made,  tQ prevent  the  American  settle 
ment  of  this  country,  which  shall  be  brought  to  light  as  we  proceed. 

One  other  item  we  will  now  give  as  developed  by  the  testimony  above 
referred  to.  Dr.  McLaughlin  informed  his  attorney  "that  he  had  pro 
posed  to  the  company's  authority  in  London,  that  if  they  would  allow 
him  to  retain  the  profits  upon  the  supplies  and  advances  made  as  above 
mentioned  to  the  settlers,  he  would  very  cheerfully  personally  assume 
the  payment  to  the  company  of  all  the  sums  thus  advanced,  but 
this  the  company  declined  to  do."  The  witness  said  :  "  My  memory 
is  not  very  distinct,  at  least,  not  so  much  as  it  is  as  to  the  statement 
above  made,  but  my  recollection  is  that  he  also  informed  me  that  the 
company,  although  it  refused  to  permit  him  to  retain  the  profits  above 
mentioned,  did  hold  him  responsible  for  every  dollar  of  the  advances  he 
made,  and  I  do  know  that  he  regarded  and  treated  the  debts  thus 
owing  by  American  citizens  as  debts  owing  not  to  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  but  to  himself  individually." 

Dr.  McLaughlin  charges  ingratitude  upon  those  who  were  able  to, 
and  did  not  pay  him,  and  were  guilty  of  denouncing  him  as  an  aristo 
crat.  He  was  no  aristocrat,  but  one  of  the  kindest,  most  obliging,  and 
familiar  men ;  yet  his  tall,  erect,  and  noble  frame,  a  head  covered  with 
white  hair,  a  long  white  beard,  light  complexion,  rather  spare  but  open 
countenance,  with  a  full  light  blue  or  gray  eye,  made  the  coward  and 
the  mean  man  hate  him,  while  the  truly  noble  man  would  love  him  for 
his  generous  and  unbounded  benevolence.  Like  Dr.  Whitman,  the  in 
fluences  around  him  weighed  heavily  upon  his  soul ;  he  keenly  felt  the 
pain  of  ingratitude  in  others ;  he  felt  it  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany,  whom  he  had  faithfully  served,  and  from  the  persons  he  had 
befriended.  An  attempt  was  made  by  a  member  of  the  company,  who 
had  previously  sworn  to  the  justness  of  their  infamous  claims,  to  excite 
the  sectarian  prejudice  of  the  witness  against  Dr.  McLaughlin  on  his 
cross-examination,  by  handing  to  the  company's  attorney  the  following 
questions  to  be  asked  the  witness : — 

Ques. — "  Do  you  not  recollect  that  Dr.  McLaughlin  told  you  that  Sir 
George  Simpson's  complaint  against  him  was  his  allowing  a  credit  of 
ten  thousand  pounds  sterling  to  Bishop  Blanchet,  of  the  Catholic  mis 
sion,  without  any  security  ?" 

Ans. — "  This  is  the  first  time  I  have  heard  of  that  transaction." 

Ques. — "  Do  you  not  know  from  what  Dr.  McLaughlin  told  you,  that 
he  gave  large  credits  to  the  Catholic  Mission  while  in  charge  of  the 
company's  business  ?" 


THE   COMPANY'S   POLICY  EXPLAINED.  33  j 

Ans.—«  I  do  not." 

In  reference  to  the  last  two  questions  and  answers,  in  looking  over 
the  items  of  account  against  our  government,  something  over  this 
amount  is  stated  as  an  item  of  claim  for  improvements  and  a  Catholic 
church  building  and  two  schoolhouses  at  Vancouver,  as  having  been 
made  by  the  Hudson's  .Bay  Company  for  the  Catholic  missions  and 
the  benefit  of  the  company's  business,  which  are  still  standing  and  in 
possession  of  the  priests  and  nuns  of  that  order.  This  matter  should 
be  closely  investigated.  We  have  abundance  of  other  evidence  to 
show  the  intimate  and  continued  connection  of  the  Jesuit  missions  with 
the  company,  and  we  look  upon  this  attempt  to  change  the  respon 
sibility  of  that  connection  from  the  company  to  Dr.  McLaughlin's 
individual  account,  as  among  the  basest  of  their  transactions. 
The  Jesuitical  Catholic  concern  was  a  child  of  their  own,  and  one 
they  are  still  nursing  in  all  their  vast  dominions.  They  made  use  of 
Dr.  McLauglin  as  long  as  they  could,  and  when  they  found  he 
was  inclined  to  favor  the  American  settlement  of  the  country,  he 
fell  under  the  displeasure  of  his  superiors  and  was  called  to  an 
account. 

These  facts  explain  the  careful  and  repeated  injunctions,  and  positive 
directions  given  to  the  early  missionaries  not  to  interfere  with  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company's  trade,  and  by  no  'means  to  encourage  the  set 
tlement  of  white  men  about  their  stations,  compelling  those  white  men 
to  become  subject  to,  and  connected  with,  the  missions.  They  also  explain 
the  reasons  for  the  extreme  caution  exercised  by  the  company  over 
the  supplies  granted  to  the  American  missions.  They  invariably  lim 
ited  them  to  the  smallest  possible  necessity,  and  by  this  means  sought 
to  prevent  the  settlement  of  the  country.  It  also  explains  fully  the 
complaint  of  Rev.  Mr.  Griffin  in  his  effort  for  an  independent  mission, 
and  shows  conclusively  the  continued  effort  of  the  company  to  check  as 
much  as  possible  the  progress  of  the  settlement,  as  also  the  desperate 
effort  they  made  in  1847  to  destroy  the  missions  and  all  American  set 
tlements  ;  and  more  than  this,  it  explains  the  continued  wars  with  all 
the  Indians  who  have  ever  been  under  the  influence  of  the  company, 
or  their  pet  child,  the  Jesuit  missions. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  no  fault  to  find  with  Dr.  McLaugh- 
lin,  except  in  his  refusing  to  carry  out  their  base  designs  upon  the 
American  settlers  and  for  the  assistance  he  rendered  upon  his  own 
responsibility  to  the  naked  and  starving  immigrants  that  Grant,  at  Fort 
Hall,  with  the  Indians  along  the  route,  had  combined  to  deceive  and 
rob,  while  on  the  way  to  the  country.  This  old,  white-headed  man, 
who  had  served  them  for  forty  years,  was  compelled,  in  maintaining  his 


322  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

honor  as  a  man  possessing  one  noble  feeling  of  humanity,  to  leave  their 
service. 

What  think  you,  kind  reader,  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  kind 
ness  and  generosity  to  the  American  settler,  when  this  same  company 
held  this  old  faithful  servant  of  theirs  individually  responsible  for  every 
dollar,  principal  and  profits,  of  the  supplies  his  generous  heart,  claiming 
to  be  humane,  was  induced  to  advance  to  the  early  settler  in  the  hour 
of  his  greatest  need  ? 

Will  you  vote  and  pay  a  tax  to  pay  claims  of  such  a  company,  when 
one  of  the  managing  partners  is  still  base  enough  to  say,  "It  was  a 
neglect  of  the  company's  agent,  after  Dr.  McLaughlin's  decease,  that 
they  did  not  present  their  accounts  for  payment  to  the  doctor's  heirs 
or  administrator  before  the  year's  notice  was  up.  It  was  now  too  late, 
and  it  was  lost  to  the  company  imless  they  could  get  it  allowed  by  tho 
United  States  government  ?" 

We  justly  deprecate  piracy,  slavery,  highway  robbery,  and  Indian 
massacres.  In  what  light  shall  we  hold  a  company  and  government, 
who  have  pursued  a  course  directly  and  indirectly  calculated  to  pro 
duce  all  these,  and  with  the  uplifted  hand  say  they  are  entitled  to  pay 
for  such  conduct  ? 

But  we  must  still  refer  to  Dr.  McLaughlin  as  representing  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company,  as  we  proceed  with  our  history  of  events,  agencies, 
men,  and  things  occurring  in  1843. 

Dr.  Whitman  is  on  his  way  back  to  Oregon  with  eight  hundred  and 
seventy-five  persons,  with  all  their  equipments  and  cattle.  Simpson  is 
foiled  and  disappointed  at  Washington.  Hines  and  Dr.  White  aro 
among  the  Upper  Columbia  Indians.  Dr.  McLaughlin  and  the  French- 
Canadians  and  priests  are  in  commotion  about  the  effort  to  organize 
the  settlement  into  a  provisional  government,  and  the  influence  the 
Americans  appear  to  be  gaining  over  the  Indians.  Piopiomoxmox 
(Yellow  Serpent)  has  returned  and  reported  to  the  Cayuses  the  result 
of  his  visit  to  Dr.  McLaughlin,  and  the  determination  of  the  company 
that,  in  case  of  a  war  with  the  Americans,  "  they  would  not  aid  the 
Americans,  but  let  them  take  care  of  themselves."  The  old  Indian 
chiefs  had  advised  the  young  men  to  wait  and  see  what  the  future 
designs  of  the  Americans  were ;  while  the  Jesuits  had  been  careful  to 
impress  upon  the  savage  mind  their  peculiar  sectarian  notions  and  pre 
judices,  as  illustrated  by  the  religious  instructions  given  by  the  priests 
to  the  Cayuses. 

The  Rev.  II.  K.  W.  Perkins  called  at  Young  Chiefs  (Tawatowe) 
lodge,  and  was  informed  on  entering,  that  they  had  not  yet  had  their 
morning  prayer.  The  chief  caused  a  bell  to  be  rung,  at  the  sound  of 


A  PROTESTANT   QUESTION.  328 

which  all  his  band  came  together  for  devotion.  Tawatowe  then  said  to 
Mr.  Perkins :  "  We  are  Catholics,  and  our  worship  is  different  from 
yours."  He  then  fell  upon  his  knees,  all  the  rest  kneeling  and  facing  him. 
The  chief  had  a  long  string  of  beads  on  his  neck  to  which  was  attached 
a  brass  cross.  After  all  were  knelt,  they  devoutly  crossed  themselves, 
and  commenced  their  prayer  as  follows :  "  We  are  poor,  we  are  poor," 
repeating  it  ten  times,  and  then  closing  with  "  Good  Father,  good  Son, 
good  Spirit,"  and  then  the  chief  would  slip  a  bead  on  the  string.  This 
was  continued  until  all  the  beads  were  removed  from  one  part  of  the 
string  to  the  other.  When  this  mock  devotion  closed, Tawatowe  said: 
*'  This  is  the  way  in  which  the  priest  taught  us  to  worship  God ;"  but 
Elijah  (a  boy  that  had  been  educated  at  the  Methodist  Indian  school) 
said  that  "  Tawatowe  and  his  band  prayed  from  the  head,  but  we 
[meaning  his  own  Walla  walla  tribe]  pray  from  the  heart." 

Since  writing  the  above,  we  have  found  in  the  Missionary  Herald  of 
December,  1866,  page  371,  a  letter  from  Rev.  C.  Eells,  formerly  of  the 
Spokan  Mission.  In  speaking  of  Dr.  Whitman's  visit  to  the  States,  he 
says  :  "  Mr.  Walker  and  myself  were  decidedly  opposed,  and  we  yielded 
only  when  it  became  evident  that  he  would  go.  even  if  he  became  dis 
connected  with  the  mission  in  order  to  do  so.  According  to  the  under 
standing  of  the  members  of  the  mission,  the  single  object  of  Dr.  Whit 
man  in  attempting  to  cross  the  continent  in  the  winter  of  1842-43,  amid 
mighty  perils  and  sufferings,  was  to  make  a  desperate  effort  to  save 
this  country  to  the  United  States." 

We  are  not  much  surprised  at  Mr.  Eells'  ignorance  of  influences 
operating  in  this  country.  His  fears  and  caution  have  made  him  unrea 
sonably  timid.  He  is  always  so  fearful  that  he  will  do  or  say  something 
wrong,  that  the  saving  of  this  country  to  our  government,  and  an 
attempt  on  the  part  of  his  associates  to  counteract  Roman  Catholic  su 
perstitions  and  maintain  the  influence  of  the  Protestant  religion  on  our 
western  coast,  are  opposed  by  him  and  his  equally  timid  associate.  He 
has  not  the  frankness  or  courage  to  state  the  whole  truth  in  the  case,  as 
developed  in  Mr.  Treat's  remarks,  who,  after  giving  Mr.  Eells'  letter, 
says :  "  It  ivas  not  simply  an  American  question,  however  •  it  was  at  the 
same  time  a  Protestant  question.  He  [Dr.  Whitman]  was  fully  alive 
to  the  efforts  which  the  Roman  Catholics  were  making  to  gain  the  mas 
tery  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  he  was  firmly  persuaded  that  they  were 
working  in  the  interests  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  with  a  view  to 
this  very  end.  The  danger  from  this  quarter  [which  Messrs.  Eells  and 
and  Walker  could  never  see,  or,  if  they  did,  were  too  timid  to  speak  or 
act]  had  made  a  profound  impression  upon  his  mind.  Under  date  of 
April  1,  1847,  he  said:  "  In  the  autumn  of  1842,  I  pointed  out  to  our 


324  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

mission  the  arrangements  of  the  Papists  'to  settle  in  our  vicinity,  and 
that  it  only  required  that  those  arrangements  should  be  completed  to 
close  our  operations." 

It  is  in  reference  to  the  facts  above  quoted  from  Dr.  Whitman's  let 
ter — made  in  our  presence  to  those  timid  associates — that  we  say  they 
were  cowards  in  not  speaking  and  acting  as  they  should  have  done  at 
that  time,  and  since  his  death. 

The  following  letter  from  General  A.  L.  Lovejoy  gives  further 
proof  of  Dr.  Whitman's  efforts  to  save  Oregon  to  his  country : — 

PORTLAND,  OREGON,  November  6,  1869. 
William  If.  Gray,  Esq.  : 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Your  note  of  the  27th  ult.,  making  inquiries  touching 
the  journey  of  the  late  Dr.  Marcus  Whitman  to  the  United  States  from 
this  coast  in  the  winter  of  1842  and  '43,  and  his  reception  at  Washing 
ton,  and  by  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis 
sions,  etc.,  has  but  just  come  to  hand,  owing  to  my  being  absent  from 
home. 

True,  I  was  the  traveling  companion  of  the  Doctor  in  that  arduous 
and  trying  journey,  but  at  this  late  hour  it  will  be  almost  impossible 
for  me  to  give  many  of  the  thrilling  scenes  and  hairbreadth  escapes 
that  we  went  through,  traveling  as  we  did,  almost  the  entire  route, 
through  a  hostile  Indian  country,  as  well  as  suffering  much  from  the 
intense  cold  and  snows  that  we  had  to  encounter  in  passing  over  the 
Rocky  Mountains  in  midwinter. 

Previous  to  our  leaving  Wailatpu,  I  often  had  conversations  with 
the  Doctor  touching  the  prospects  of  this  coast.  The  Doctor  was  alive 
to  its  interests,  and  manifested  a  very  warm  desire  to  have  this  country 
properly  represented  at  Washington,  and,  after  some  arrangements,  we 
left  Wailatpu,  October  3,  1842,  overland,  for  the  Eastern  States. 

We  traveled  rapidly,  and  reached  Fort  Hall  in  eleven  days,  and 
remained  only  a  day  or  two  and  made  some  few  purchases ;  took  a 
guide  and  left  for  Fort  Wintee,  as  the  Doctor  changed  from  a  direct 
route  to  one  more  southern  through  the  Spanish  country,  via  Taos  and 
Santa  Fe.  On  our  way  from  Fort  Hall  to  Fort  Wintee  we  met  with 
terribly  severe  weather ;  the  snows  greatly  retarded  our  progress,  and 
blinded  the  trail,  so  much  so  that  we  lost  much  lime.  After  reaching 
Fort  Wintee  and  making  some  suitable  purchases  for  our  trip,  we  took  a 
new  guide. and  started  on  our  journey  for  Fort  Mncumpagra,  situate  on 
the  waters  of  Grand  River,  in  the  Spanish  country. 

Here  again  our  stay  was  very  short.  We  simply  made  some  few 
purchases,  took  a  new  guide,  and  left  for  Taos.  After  being  out  some  four 


GENERAL  LOVEJOY'S   LETTER.  325 

or  five  days,  as  we  were  passing  over  high  table-lands,  we  encountered  a 
most  terrific  snow-storm,  which  forced  us  to  seek  shelter  at  once.  A 
deep  ravine  being  near  by,  we  rapidly  made  for  it,  but  the  snow  fell  so 
rapidly,  and  the  wind  blew  with  such  violence,  that  it  was  almost  im 
possible  to  reach  it.  After  reaching  the  ravine,  and  cutting  some  cot 
ton-wood  trees  for  our  animals,  we  attempted  some  arrangements  for 
camp  as  best  we  could  under  the  circumstances,  and  remained  snowed 
in  for  some  three  or  four  days,  when  the  storm  subsided,  and  it  cleared 
off  intensely  cold.  It  was  with  much  difficulty  that  we  made  our  way 
up  upon  the  high  lands;  the  snow  was  so  deep  and  the  wind  so  piercing 
and  cold,  that  we  felt  compelled  to  return  to  camp  and  wait  a  few  days 
for  a  change  of  weather. 

Our  next  effort  was  more  successful,  and  after  spending  several 
days  wandering  round  in  the  snow,  without  making  much  headway, 
and  greatly  fatiguing  our  animals,  to  little  or  no  purpose,  our  guide 
informed  us  that  the  deep  snows  had  so  changed  the  face  of  the 
country,  that  he  was  completely  lost,  and  could  take  us  no  further. 

This  was  a  terrible  blow  to  the  Doctor.  He  was  determined  not  to 
give  it  up  without  another  effort.  And  we  at  once  agreed  that  the 
Doctor  should  take  the  guide  and  make  his  way  back  to  the  fort,  and 
procure  a  new  guide,  and  that  I  should  remain  in  camp  with  the  ani 
mals  until  his  return,  which  was  on  the  seventh  day,  with  a  new  guide. 

We  were  soon  under  way,  on  our  route,  traveling  through  the  snows 
at  rather  a  snail's  pace,  Nothing  occurred  of  much  importance,  other 
than  hard  and  slow  traveling  until  we  reached,  as  our  guide  informed 
us,  the  Grand  River,  which  was  frozen,  on  either  side,  about  one-third 
across.  The  current  was  so  very  rapid,  that  the  center  of  the  stream 
remained  open,  although  the  weather  was  intensely  cold. 

This  stream  was  some  one  hundred  and  fifty,  or  two  hundred  yards 
wide,  and  looked  upon  by  our  guide  as  very  dangerous  to  cross  in  its 
present  condition.  But  the  Doctor,  nothing  daunted,  was  the  first  to 
take  the  water.  He  mounted  his  horse,  and  the  guide  and  myself 
pushed  them  off  the  ice  into  the  boiling,  foaming  stream.  Away 
they  went  completely  under  water — horse  and  all ;  but  directly  came 
up,  and  after  buffeting  the  waves  and  foaming  current,  he  made  to 
the  ice  on  the  opposite  side,  a  long  way  down  the  stream — leaped 
from  his  horse  upon  the  ice,  and  soon  had  his  noble  animal  by  his 
side.  The  guide  and  myself  forced  in  the  pack  animals;  followed 
the  doctor's  example,  and  were  soon  drying  our  frozen  clothes  by  a 
comfortable  fire. 

With  our  new  guide,  traveling  slowly  on,  we  reached  Taos  in  about 
thirty  days.  We  suffered  considerably  from  cold  and  scarcity  of  pro- 


326  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

visions,  and  for  food  were  compelled  to  use  the  flesh  of  mules,  dogs, 
and  such  other  animals  as  came  in  our  reach. 

We  remained  at  Taos  some  twelve  or  fifteen  days,  when  we  changed 
off  our  animals,  and  made  such  purchases  as  our  journey  required,  and 
left  for  Bent's  Fort,  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Arkansas  River,  where 
we  arrived  about  the  third  day  of  January,  1843. 

The  Doctor  left  here  on  the  7th,  at  which  time  we  parted,  and  I  did 
not  meet  him  again  until  some  time  in  the  month  of  July,  above  Fort 
Laramie,  on  his  way  to  Oregon  with  a  train  of  emigrants. 

The  Doctor  often  expressed  himself  to  me  about  the  remainder  of  bis 
journey,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  was  received  at  Washington  and 
by  the  Board  of  Missions  at  Boston. 

The  Doctor  had  several  interviews  with  President  Tyler,  Secretary 
Webster,  and  many  members  of  Congress,  touching  the  interests  of 
Oregon.  He  urged  the  immediate  termination  of  the  treaty  with 
Great  Britain  relative  to  this  country,  and  the  extension  of  the  laws 
of  the  United  States,  and  to  provide  liberal  inducements  to  emigrants 
to  come  to  this  coast. 

He  felt  much  chagrined  at  the  lack  of  interest,  and  the  great  want 
of  knowledge  concerning  Oregon,  and  the  wants  of  this  country, 
though  he  was  very  cordially  and  kindly  received,  and  many  seemed 
anxious  to  obtain  every  information  which  he  could  give  them  ;  and  I 
have  no  doubt,  the  Doctor's  interviews  resulted  greatly  to  the  benefit  of 
Oregon  and  the  entire  coast. 

But  his  reception  at  Boston  was  not  so  cordial.  The  Board  censured 
him  for  leaving  his  post,  for  the  waste  of  time  and  the  great  expense 
attending  so  long  a  journey  across  the  continent  at  that  season  of  the 
year. 

The  Doctor  returned  to  the  frontier  settlements,  urging  the  citizens 
to  emigrate  to  the  Pacific  coast.  After  his  exertions  in  this  behalf, 
he  left  for  Independence,  Missouri,  and  started  for  Oregon  with  a  large 
emigrant  train  some  time  in  the  month  of  May.  With  his  energy  and 
knowledge  of  the  country,  he  rendered  them  very  great  assistance, 
and  continued  to  do  so,  till  he  reached  his  home  about  the  first  of 
October  (one  year  from  the  time  he  left),  to  find  the  home  of  his  choice 
sadly  neglected,  and  the  flouring  mill  burned  to  the  ground. 

The  Indians  were  very  hostile  about  the  Doctor's  leaving  at  the  time 
he  did,  and  I  have  no  doubt,  that  during  his  absence,  the  thistles  of  his 
destruction — the  seeds  of  that  awful  massacre  of  himself,  Mrs.  Whit 
man,  and  many  others — were  then  sown  by  those  haughty  and  savage 
Cayuses,  although  it  did  not  take  place  till  four  years  afterward. 

As  to  your  fourth  inquiry  relative  to  the  Cayuse  war.     It  is  a  long 


GENERAL  LOVEJOY'S  LETTER.  397 

time  since  these  events  took  place ;  and  most  of  them  are  on  record, 
and  have  passed  into  the  history  of  the  country ;  so  that  I  would  not 
like  to  make  many  statements  from  memory,  although  I  was  an  adju 
tant-general,  and  was  also  one  of  the  commissioners  to  raise  means  to 
equip  the  first  company,  which  was  dispatched  to  the  Dalles  the  day 
after  the  sad  news  of  the  massacre  reached  Oregon  City. 

There  being  no  supplies  at  Oregon  City  suitable  to  fit  out  this  com 
pany,  the  commissioners  proceeded  at  once  to  Fort  Vancouver  to 
procure  supplies  for  an  outfit.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  refused  to 
let  us  have  any  thing  on  account  of  the  government ;  but  would  on 
our  joint  and  several  note,  to  the  amount  of  $1,000,  which  was  cheer 
fully  given,  and  the  outfit  was  obtained,  and  the  company  was  pushed 
on  to  its  destination,  and  reached  the  Dalles  in  time  to  prevent  further 
bloodshed  at  that  place  by  the  red  devils. 

Yours,  with  great  respect, 

V4  A-  IJ-  LOVEJOY. 

W.  H.  GEAY,  Esq.,  Astoria,  Oregon. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

Assembly  of  the  Nez  Perces,  Cayuses,  and  Wallawallas. — Mock  fight. — Council  with 
the  Indians. — Speeches  by  Yellow  Serpent,  Tilokaikt,  the  Prince,  and  Illutin. — 
The  secret  of  the  whole  difficulty. — John,  the  Kanaka. — A  cow  for  a  horse. — Kill 
ing  of  a  medicine  woman. 

WE  will  return  to  Rev.  Mr.  Hines'  narrative  of  his  trip  among  the 
Cayuses,  May  22,  1843. 

"  As  the  Indians  refused  to  come  together  unless  Ellis  and  his  men 
came  down  to  meet  us,  we  informed  them  that  we  would  go  up  and  see 
Ellis  in  his  own  country ;  but  being  suspicious  that  we  intended  to  pre 
vent  his  coming  down,  they  were  much  opposed  to  our  going.  Ex 
plaining  to  the  chiefs  the  object  of  our  visit,  they  seemed  to  be  satisfied." 

We  have,  in  this  short  statement  of  Mr.  Hines,  an  important  fact. 
The  Cayuse  Indians  had  been  instructed  what  to  do ;  they  were  not  to  be 
diverted  by  any  arrangements  of  the  sub-agent.  Notwithstanding,  the 
agent  and  Mr.  Hines  had  learned  that  Ellis  was  coming  with  several 
hundred  warriors,  they  knew  not  for  what  purpose,  some  saying  to 
make  war  upon  the  Cayuses,  and  they  had  determined  to  prevent  the 
meeting  of  the  two  tribes  if  possible.  During  their  absence  the  Cay 
uses  all  collected  not  far  from  Dr.  Whitman's,  and  were  waiting  the 
arrival  of  the  Nez  Perces.  On  the  22d  of  May  the  Nez  Perces,  some 
six  hundred  strong,  with  a  thousand  horses,  arrived  on  the  plain.  Some 
three  hundred  of  the  Cayuses  and  Wallawallas  uniting  formed  a  grand 
Indian  cavalcade  on  the  plain  in  front  of  Dr.  Whitman's  house,  when 
a  grand  display  of  Indian  horsemanship  commenced,  such  as  advancing 
in  mock  fantastic  fight,  with  discharges  of  blank  cartridges,  wheeling 
and  running  in  all  directions,  till  the  Indians  had  nearly  worked  them 
selves  into  a  real  fight  and  a  great  excitement.  Ellis  said  that  he 
thought  the  Cayuses  were  determined  to  have  a  fight  in  earnest. 

Tawatowe,  the  Catholic  chief,  as  he  approached  them  appeared  quite 
angry  and  disposed  to  quarrel.  Seeing  the  excitement  increasing,  and 
fearing  that  it  might  end  seriously  unless  the  attention  of  the  Indians 
could  be  drawn  to  some  other  subject,  Mr.  Spalding,  who  was  present, 
gave  notice  that  all  would  repair  to  Dr.  Whitman's  house  for  talla- 
pooso  (worship).  But  Tawatowe  came  forward  in  a  very  boisterous 
manner  and  inquired  what  we  had  made  all  this  disturbance  for.  The 


INDIAN"  COUNCIL.  329 

American  party,  followed  by  several  hundred  Indians,  repaired  to  the 
station  and  engaged  in  religious  exercises,  when  the  excitement  sub 
sided  for  the  night. 

On  May  23,  the  chiefs  and  principal  men  of  the  three  tribes 
assembled  at  the  station  to  hear  what  the  self-constituted  United  States 
Indian  commissioner  and  his  secretary  of  state  had  to  say. 

"They  were  called  to  order  by  Tawatowe,  who  by  this  time  had  got 
over 'his  excitement,  and  then  was  placed  before  them  the  object  of 
our  visit.  They  were  told  that  much  had  been  said  about  war,  and 
.we  had  come  to  assure  them  that  they  had  nothing  to  fear  from  that 
quarter."  If  Dr.  White  was  no  more  explicit  in  setting  forth  the  object 
of  this  visit  to  the  Indians  than  Mr.  Hines  is  in  giving  the  account  of 
it,  there  certainly  was  room  for  a  misunderstanding  between  him  and 
the  Indians.  He  said  "  the  President  of  the  United  States  had  not 
sent  him  [Dr.  White]  to  make  war  upon  them,  but  to  enter  into 
arrangements  with  them  to  regulate  their  intercourse  with  the  white 

O  <3 

people.  We  were  not  there  to  catch  them  in  a  trap,  as  a  man  would 
a  beaver,  but  to  do  them  good ;  and  if  they  would  lay  aside  th'eir 
former  practices  and  prejudices,  stop  their  quarrels,  cultivate  their 
lands,  and  receive  good  laws,  they  might  become  a  great  and  happy 
people ;  that  in  order  to  do  this  they  must  all  be  united"  Exactly 
what  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  wished  to  have  done  to  aid  them  in 
crushing  the  American  settlement  and  preventing  further  American 
emigration  to  the  country. 

As  a  reason  for  their  being  united,  Mr.  Hines  says,  l78-9th  pages: 
"  They  were  told  they  were  few  in  comparison  to  the  whites,  and  if 
they  were  not  all  of  one  heart  they  would  be  able  to  accomplish 
nothing.  The  chiefs  should  set  the  example  and  love  each  other,  and 
not  get  proud  and  haughty,  but  consider  the  people  as  their  brothers 
and  their  children,  and  labor  to  do  them  good,  that  the  people  should 
be  obedient,  and  in  their  morning  and  evening  prayers  they  should 
remember  their  chiefs. 

"  Ellis  remarked  that  it  would  not  be  proper  for  the  ISTez  Perce 
chiefs  to  speak  until  the  Cayuse  people  should  receive  the  laws.  The 
Cayuse  chiefs  replied :  '  If  you  want  us  to  receive  the  laws,  bring  them 
forward  and  let  us  see  them,  as  we  can  not  take  them  unless  we  know 
what  they  are.' 

"  A  speech  was  then  delivered  to  the  young  men  to  impress  them 
favorably  with  regard  to  the  laws.  They  were  told  that  they  would 
soon  take  the  places  of  the  old  men,  and  they  should  be  willing  to  act 
for  the  good  of  the  people ;  that  they  should  not  go  here  and  there 
and  spread  false  reports  about  war;  and  that  this  had  been  the 


330  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

cause  of  all  the  difficulty  and  excitement  that  had  prevailed  among 
them  during  the  past  winter." 

With  the  information  which  Mr.  Hines  has  already  given  us  in  the 
first*  part  of  his  ninth  chapter,  we  would  suppose  he  would  avoid  this 
apparently  incorrect  statement  to  the  Indians  of  the  cause  of  the 
difficulties  then  existing.  He  and  Dr.  White  appear  to  have  acted 
under  the  same  influence  with  Dr.  McLaughlin,  and  to  have  carried  all 
their  acts  and  counsels  to  the  one  object,  which  was  to  combine  the 
Indians,  and  divide  and  destroy  the  settlement.  He  tells  us,  in  con 
tinuation  of  the  proceedings  of  this  council,  that  "  the  laws  were  then 
read,  first  in  English,  and  then  in  Nez  Perce." 

"  Yellow  Serpent  then  rose  and  said :  '  I  have  a  message  to  you. 
Where  are  these  laws  from?  I  would  that  you  might  say  they  were 
from  God.  But  I  think  they  are  from  the  earth,  because,  from  what  I 
know  of  white  men  [a  term  claimed  by  Brouillet  as  belonging  to  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  Frenchmen],  they  do  not  honor  these  laws.' 
In  answer  to  this,  the  people  were  informed  that  the  laws  were  recog 
nized  by  God,  and  imposed  on  men  in  all  civilized  countries.  Yellow 
Serpent  was  pleased  with  the  explanation,  and  said  that  it  was  accord 
ing  to  the  instructions  he  had  received  from  others,  and  he  was  glad  to 
•learn  that  it  was  so,  because  many  of  his  people  had  been  angry  with  him 
when  he  had  whipped  them  for  crime,  and  had  told  him  that.God  would 
send  him  to  hell  for  it,  and  he  was  glad  to  know  that  it  was  pleasing  to 
God. 

"Tilokaikt,  a  Cayuse  chief,  rose  and  said:  *  What  do  you  read  the 
laws  for  before  we  take  them?  We  do  not  take  the  laws  because 
Tawatowe  says  so.  He  is  a  Catholic,  and  as  a  people  we  do  not  follow 
his  worship.'  Dr.  White  replied  that  this  did  not  make  any  difference 
about  the  law ;  that  the  people  in  the  States  had  different  modes  of 
worship,  yet  all  had  one  law. 

"  A  chief,  called  the  Prince,  arose  and  said :  *  I  understand  you  gave 
us  liberty  to  examine  every  law, — all  the  words  and  lines, — and  as  ques 
tions  are  asked  about  it,  we  should  get  a  better  understanding  of  it. 
The  people  of  this  country  have  but  one  mind  about  it.  I  have  some 
thing  to  say,  but  perhaps  the  people  will  dispute  me.  As  a  body,  we 
have  not  had  an  opportunity  to  consult,  therefore  you  come  to  us  as  in  a 
wind,  and  speak  to  us  as  to  the  air,  as  we  have  no  point,  and  we  can 
not  speak  because  we  have  no  point  before  us.  The  business  before  us 
is  whole  like  a  body  ;  we  have  not  dissected  it.  And  perhaps  you  will 
say  it  is  out  of  place  for  me  to  speak,  because  I  am  not  a  great  chief. 
Once  I  had  influence,  but  now  I  have  but  little.'  " 

This  was  one  of  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  tribe  that  assisted  in  tak- 


INDIAN  SHREWDNESS.  331 

ing  Fort  Wallawalla  and  tying  Mr.  Pambrun  to  compel  him  to  give 
more  goods  for  horses  and  furs.  "  He  was  about  to  sit  down,  but  was 
told  to  go  on.  He  then  said  :  *  When  the  whites  first  came  among 
us,  we  had  no  cattle ;  they  have  given  us  none ;  what  we  have  now 
got  we  have  obtained  by  an  exchange  of  property.  A  long  time 
ago  Lewis  and  Clarke  came  to  this  country,  and  I  want  to  know  what 
they  said  about  us.  Did  they  say  they  found  friends  or  enemies  here  V 
Being  told  that  they  spoke  well  of  the  Indians,  the  Prince  said  :  '  That 
is  a  reason  why  the  whites  should  unite  with  us,  and  all  become 
one  people.  Those  who  have  been  here  before  you  have  left 
us  no  memorial  of  their  kindness,  by  giving  us  presents.  We  speak 
by  way  of  favor ;  if  you  have  any  benefit  to  bestow,  we  will  then 
speak  more  freely.  One  thing  that  we  can  speak  about  is  cattle, 
and  the  reason  why  we  can  not  speak  out  now  is  because  we  have  not 
the  thing  before  us.  My  people  are  poor  and  blind,  and  we  must  have 
something  tangible.  Other  chiefs  have  bewildered  me  since  they  came ; 
yet  I  am  from  an  honorable  stock.  Promises  which  have  been  made  to 
me  and  my  fathers  have  not  been  fulfilled,  and  I  am  made  miserable ; 
but  it  will  not  answer  for  me  to  speak  out,  for  my-people  do  not  con 
sider  me  as  their  chief.'  [This  was  just  what  Mr.  Pambrun,  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  had  done  to  this  Indian  chief  to  break  his 
power  and  destroy  his  influence  with  his  tribe  and  his  people.  But  let 
us  hear  him  through.]  '  One  thing  more ;  you  have  reminded  me  of  what 
was  promised  me  some  time  ago,  and  I  am  inclined  to  follow  on  and 
see,  though  I  have  been  giving  my  beaver  to  the  whites  and  have  re 
ceived  many  promises,  and  have  always  been  disappointed ;  I  want  to 
know  what  you  are  going  to  do  ?' 

"  Illutin,  or  Big  Belly,  then  arose  and  said  that  the  old  men  were 
wearied  with  the  wickedness  of  the  young  men ;  that  if  he  was  alone 
he  could  say  *  Yes '  at  once  to  the  laws,  and  that  the  reason  why  the 
young  men  did  not  feel  as  he  felt,  was  because  they  had  stolen  property 
in  their  hands,  and  the  laws  condemned  stealing.  But  he  assured  them 
that  the  laws  were  calculated  to  do  them  good  and  not  evil. 

"  But  this  did  not  satisfy  the  Prince.  He  desired  that  the  good 
which  it  was  proposed  to  do  them  by  adopting  the  laws  might  be  put 
in  a  tangible  form  before  them. 

"  He  said  that  it  had  been  a  long  time  since  the  country  had  been 
discovered  by  whites,  and  that  ever  since  that  time  people  had  been 
coming  along  promising  to  do  them  good  ;  but  they  had  all  passed  by 
and  left  no  blessing  behind  them." 

This  chief  said  that  "  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  persuaded 
them  to  continue  with  them,  and  not  go  after  the  Americans ;  that  if 


332  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

the  Americans  designed  to  do  them  good,  why  did  they  not  bring 
goods  with  them  to  leave  with  the  Indians?  that  they  were  fools  to 
listen  to  what  Suapies  (Americans)  had  to  say ;  that  they  would  only 
talk,  but  the  company  would  both  talk  and  give  them  presents" 

This  Indian,  as  his  speech  shows,  was  shrewd,  and  thought  he  was 
certain  to  obtain  his  object,  either  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
or  the  Americans.  He  had  been  humbled  by  the  company,  and  an 
offer  to  buy  him  back  had  been  made.  He  bid  for  a  higher  price  with 
the  Americans.  In  doing  so,  he  naturally  exposed  the  secret  influence 
of  the  company,  which  is  given  in  this  book  of  Mr.  Hines',  as  a  matter 
of  course,  and  he  passes  along  without  note  or  comment  upon  what  he 
saw,  and  heard. 

"In  reply  to  the  last  Indian  speech,  Dr.  White  told  the  Indians 
that  lie  did  not  come  to  them  as  a  missionary  or  as  a  trader." 

To  Ellis  and  Lawyer,  who  called  on  them  in  the  evening  to  have  a 
talk,  "they  said  they  expected  pay  for  being  chiefs,  and  wanted  to 
know  how  much  salary  Dr.  White  was  going  to  give  them.  Ellis  said 
he  had  counted  the  months  he  had  been  in  office,  and  thought  that 
enough  was  due  him  to  make  him  rich.  They  left  at  a  late  hour  with 
out  receiving  any  satisfaction.  In  the  council,  efforts  were  made  to 
induce  the  Nez  Perces  to  unite  under  one  chief  in  the  fall  of  1842. 
Thomas  McKay  had  promised  these  chiefs  large  salaries  and  many 
presents  that  Dr.  White  and  his  government  would  give  them  as  an 
inducement  to  form  a  union,  knowing  that  White  had  not  the  ability 
or  means  to  make  good  his  promises  to  them,  and  in  this  way  any  influ 
ence  as  an  agent  of  the  American  government  he  might  have  would 
be  lost  in  this  tribe. 

"  Ellis  was  a  Hudson's  Bay  Indian,  educated  at  the  Red  River  settle 
ment.  They  left  this  private  interview  with  White  without  any  satis 
faction,  showing  that  the  policy  of  the  company  was  producing  its 
legitimate  effect  upon  Ellis's  mind.  The  Lawyer,  however,  understood 
the  matter  in  its  true  light.  He  explained  to  us  the  whole  transaction, 
and  the  promises  of  McKay  from  the  company.  He  thought  Dr. 
White  was  foolish  to  let  McKay  talk  so  much  for  him  and  the  Ameri 
can  government. 

"  Some  hundreds  again  assembled  the  next  day  (May  24)  to  renew 
the  business  relative  to  laws ;  but  the  first  thing  investigated  was  the 
shooting  of  John,  the  Kanaka,  by  the  Indian.  John  had  gone  to  a 
lodge  the  day  before,  and  in  a  dispute  in  a  trade  he  had  dared  the  In 
dian  to  shoot  him.  The  Indian  had  seized  his  gun  and  fired  it  at  John's 
head,  making  considerable  of  a  hole  in  the  scalp,  but  none  in  the  scull. 
The  Indian  fled,  but  was  brought  back  and  found  guilty  and  kept  till 


REV.   J.   LEE'S  HORSES  PAID  FOR.  333 

the  laws  were  adopted  for  sentence  and  punishment,  and  finally  pun 
ished  with  forty  lashes  on  the  bare  back. 

"  The  Indians  continued  to  speak  in  reference  to  the  laws.  Their 
speeches  were  grave,  energetic,  mighty,  and  eloquent,  and  generally  in 
favor  of  receiving  the  laws.  After  all  had  spoken  it  was  signified  that 
they  were  ready  to  vote  whether  they  would  take  the  laws  or  not,  and 
the  vote  was  unanimous  in  the  affirmative.  Having  adopted  the  laws, 
it  was  now  necessary  to  elect  their  chief,  according  to  the  provisions  of 
the  laws,  and  Tawatowe  was  nominated  to  the  highest  chieftainship. 
Some  were  opposed  ;  a  majority  were  in  favor,  and  while  the  question 
was  pending  [this  Indian  had  not  consulted  his  priest,  or  he  would 
have  declined  at  once  on  this  first  proposition  to  elect  him  chief], 
Tawatowe  arose  and  said,  *  My  friends,  I  rise  to  speak  to  you,  and  I  want 
you  all  to  listen.'  He  then  adverted  to  his  past  history,  and  told  them 
how  much  he  had  suffered  in  consequence  of  their  divisions  and  quar 
rels.  Tawatowe  joined  his  influence  with  the  Prince  to  get  more  pay 
from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  for  horses  and  furs,  hence  his  tribe 
were  encouraged  to  quarrel  with  and  disrespect  him.  When  we  first 
arrived  in  the  country  he  was  seldom  invited  to  the  fort,  and  received 
no  presents  from  the  company.  He  inquired  of  his  people  if  they 
would  lay  aside  all  their  past  difficulties  and  come  up  and  support  him 
if  he  would  accept  of  the  chieftainship. 

"  It  was  now  time  to  close  for  the  day,  and  the  vote  being  put. 
Tawatowe  was  declared  duly  elected  to  the  high  chieftainship  of  the 
Cayuse  tribe. 

"  Dr.  White  bought  of  Mrs.  Whitman  a  fat  ox  and  presented  it  to 
the  Indians.  Mrs.  W.  gave  them  a  fat  hog,  which  they  butchered  and 
feasted  upon  at  night. 

"  May  25. — A  number  of  the  chiefs  came  early  in  the  morning  at 
Mr.  Hines'  request,  to  settle  a  difficulty  concerning  some  horses  which 
they  gave  to  Rev.  Jason  Lee  when  he  first  came  to  Oregon  in  1834, 
Mr.  Lee  having  requested  Mr.  Hines  to  come  to  some  arrangement 
with  them  if  possible.  After  a  long  talk  we  succeeded  in  settling  with 
them  by  proposing  to  give  them  a  cow  for  each  horse  that  they  had 
given  to  Mr.  Lee.  We  found  that  the  Indians  always  expected  to  be 
well  paid  for  a  present." 

The  Jesuit  missionaries  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  repre- 
sented  to  the  Indians  that  Mr.  Lee's  receiving  their  horses  and  not 
making  them  any  presents  was  the  same  as  stealing  from  them,  and  in 
this  way  the  American  missionary  was  regarded  as  having  stolen  the 
Indians'  horses.  In  the  conversations  and  talks  the  Indians  had  with 
Dr.  Whitman  about  the  laud  the  mission  occupied,  the  horses  given  to 


334:  HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 

Mr.  Lee  were  generally  mentioned.  Dr.  Whitman  was  anxious  that 
Borne  arrangement  should  be  made  to  settle  that  matter  as  soon  as  he 
learned  the  facts  in  the  case.  The  Indians,  as  per  arrangement  with 
Mr.  Hines,  did  receive  a  cow  for  each  horse  given,  and  thus  the  matter 
was  satisfactorily  settled. 

The  Indians  having  again  assembled,  Tawatowe  came  forward  and 
said  that  he  had  made  up  his  mind  that  he  could  not  accept  of  the 
chieftainship,  in  consequence  of  the  difference  of  his  religion  from  that 
of  most  of  his  people. 

Here  is  Jesuitism  and  Hudson's  Bay,  combined  with  ignorance 
and  religious  bigotry,  and  shows  the  influence  then  operating  upon  the 
savage  mind.  This  Indian  declared  a  reason  why  he  could  not  accept 
the  chieftainship,  which,  four  years  later,  would  have  fixed  at  once  a 
crime  upon  that  sect,  without  a  shadow  of  doubt  in  their  favor.  As  it 
was,  the  plan  was  deeper,  and  a  Protestant  Indian,  or  one  that  favored 
the  Protestant  cause  and  American  missions,  a  younger  brother  of 
Tawatowe  is  selected.  Tawatowe  resigned,  and  his  brother  Five  Crows 
is  elected  the  American  head  chief  of  the  Cay  use  tribe,  with  the  ap 
proval  of  the  sub-agent  of  the  United  States.  Bear  these  facts  in  mind 
as  we  proceed,  that  you  may  fully  understand  the  deep-laid  plots  of 
the  foreign  influence  then  operating  in  the  country  to  secure  the  whole 
or  a  large  portion  of  it  for  themselves  and  their  own  government. 

In  connection  with  this  we  will  give  one  other  incident  as  related  by 
Mr.  Hines  on  his  tour  among  the  Indians,  to  show  the  shrewdness,  as 
also  the  long  premeditated  baseness  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in 
their  efforts  to  get  rid  of  all  American  missionaries  and  settlers,  and  to 
bring  on  a  war  with  the  Indians.  Mr.  Hines  and  party  returned  to  the 
Dalles,  and  from  there  Mr.  Hines  embarked  on  one  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  boats  with  Mr.  Ogden  for  Vancouver.  A  short  dis 
tance  below  the  Dalles  they  were  driven  ashore  by  a  wind  storm. 
While  there,  Mr.  Ogden  told  the  following  story  of  the  killing  of  a 
medicine  woman,  or  doctress  : — 

"  Mr.  Ogden  related  some  of  his  wonderful  adventures  among  the 
Indians,  Avith  whom  he  had  resided  more  than  thirty  years.  He  was 
an  eye-witness  to  a  remarkable  circumstance  that  transpired  at  the 
Dalles  during  one  of  his  voyages  up  the  Columbia. 

"  He  arrived  at  the  Dalles  on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  seeing  a  congre 
gation  of  some  three  hundred  Indians  assembled  not  far  from  the  river, 
he  drew  near  to  ascertain  the  cause,  and  found  the  Rev.  H.  K.  W. 
Perkins  dispensing  to  them  the  word  of  reconciliation  through  a  cru 
cified  Redeemer.  There  was  in  the  outskirts  of  the  congregation  an 
Indian  woman  who  had  been  for  many  years  a  doctress  in  the  tribe, 


EVENTS  AND  INFLUENCES.  335 

and  who  had  just  expended  all  her  skill  upon  a  patient,  the  only  son 
of  a  man  whose  wigwam  was  not  far  distant,  and  for  whose  re 
covery  she  had  become  responsible  by  consenting  to  become  his 
physician.  All  her  efforts  to  remove  the  disease  were  unavailing ;  the 
father  was  doomed  to  see  his  son  expire.  Believing  that  the  doctress 
had  the  power  of  preserving  life  or  inflicting  death  according  to  her 
will,  and  that  instead  of  curing  she  had  killed  his  boy,  he  resolved  upon 
the  most  summary  revenge.  Leaving  his  dead  son  in  the  lodge,  he 
broke  into  the  congregation  with  a  large  butcher-knife  in  his  hand,  and, 
rushing  upon  the  now  terrified  doctress,  seized  her  by  the  hair,  and 
with  one  blow  across  her  throat  laid  her  dead  at  his  feet." 

This  story  is  a  very  plausible  one,  as  much  so.  as  the  one  Mr. 
Hines  tells  us  on  the  110th  page  of  his  book,  about  Smith,  Sublet,  and 
Dripse's  partner.  There  is  an  object  in  telling  this  story  at  this  time 
to  Mr.  Hines,  as  much  so  as  there  was  in  a  letter  written  by  James 
Douglas,  Esq.,  to  S.  N.  Castle,  Esq.,  and  published  in  the  March  num 
ber  of  the  Friend,  at  Honolulu,  Sandwich  Islands,  which  we  will  give 
in  due  time. 

The  reader  will  observe  in  these  sketches  that  our  effort  has  been  to 
speak  of  all  the  principal  events  and  prominent  and  prospective  influ 
ences  in  our  early  history,  as  in  the  year  In  which  they  occurred.  In 
attending  to  other  duties  we  have  not  been  able  to  keep  as  close  to 
dates  and  chronological  order  as  we  could  wish ;  still,  with  patience  and 
perseverance  we  can  restore  the  "lost  history"  of  our  early  settlement 
upon  this  coast,  so  that  the  future  historian  can  have  the  material  before 
him  for  an  interesting  chapter  in  the  history  of  our  country. 

We  have,  in  addition  to  personal  and  public  duties,  to  wade  through 
an  immense  amount  of  what  is  called  Oregon  history,  to  gather  up 
dates  and  events  that  have  been  given  to  the  public  at  different  times, 
without  order,  or  apparent  object,  only  to  write  a  book  on  Oregon. 
We  have  no  hesitancy  in  saying  that  Rev.  G.  Hines  has  given  to  the 
public  the  fullest  and  best  book,  and  yet  there  is  but  a  single  chapter 
that  is  useful  to  the  historian. 

Rev.  Samuel  Parker  has  many  scientific  and  useful  statements  and 
observations,  but  all  come  in  before  our  civil  history  began  to  develop 
itself. 


CHAPTER  XLIH. 

The  Legislative  Committee  of  nine. — Hon.  Robert  Moore,  chairman. — Description 
of  the  members. — Minutes  of  their  proceedings. — Dr.  E.  Newell,  his  character. — 
Two  specimens  of  his  speeches. — The  dark;  clouds. 

IN  1843  the  people  of  Oregon  showed  signs  of  life,  and  sprang  into 
existence  as  an  American  Territory  with  their  provisional  government, 
which  we  have  allowed  to  be  silently  forming  in  the  Wallamet  Valley, 
while  wre  have  traced  the  operations  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
and  Dr.  Whitman  to  Washington ;  and  also  Dr.  White  and  Mr.  Hines 
among  the  Indians,  all  over  the  country.  This  will  enable  the  reader 
to  understand  the  strong  influences  operating  against  the  American 
settlement ;  and  if  he  will  go  with  us,  we  will  introduce  him  to  the  first 
Legislative  Committee  of  nine,  and  tell  him  just  what  we  know  of  their 
proceedings  all  through  their  deliberations. 

The  record  shows  no  instruction  from  the  settlers,  as  to  when  or 
where  the  committee  should  meet  to  prepare  the  laws,  to  report  at 
Champocg,  only,  that  they  were  limited  to  six  days,  and  to  be  allowed 
$1.25  per  day,  and  that  the  money  be  raised  by  subscription.  Every 
member  at  once  subscribed  to  the  full  amount  of  his  own  per  diem  pay, 
and  in  addition  to  this,  Mr.  Alanson  Beers,  Rev.  J.  L.  Parish,  and  Dr. 
Babcock  subscribed  the  full  amount  of  the  board  of  the  whole  nine,  and 
the  Methodist  Mission  furnished  without  charge  the  use  of  their  granary 
at  the  old  mission,  as  the  first  council  chamber  on  this  western  coast. 
The  building  was  a  frame  some  sixteen  by  thirty  feet,  one  and  a  half 
stories  high,  boards  upright,  with  one  square  room  in  front,  and  the 
balance  used  for  a  granary,  from  which  it  derived  its  name ;  the  upper 
part  was  for  storing  and  sleeping  use.  The  square  room  was  used  for 
schoolhouse  and  church,  and  now,  for  a  legislative  hall. 

We  will  enter  this  hall  and  introduce  you  to  an  old  gray-headed 
man  with  a  fair  complexion,  bald  head,  light  eye,  full  face,  frequent 
spasmodic  nodding  forward  of  the  head,  and  a  large  amount  of  self- 
importance,  not  very  large  intellectual  developments,  with  a  super 
abundance  of  flesh,  sitting  by  a  square-legged  table  or  stand,  in  a  chair 
with  square  posts,  and  strips  of  rawhide  for  bottom;  dressed  in  fustian 
pants,  large  blue  vest,  and  striped  shirt,  and  a  common  brown  coat, 
who,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Hill,  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House,  a::d  here 
after  will  be  known  in  our  history  as  Hon.  Robert  Moore,  Esq. 


FIRST   DIFFICULTY.  337 

The  first  difficulty  the  committee  found  was  to  organize  a  government 
without  an  executive.  They  could  organize  a  legislative  body,  and 
appoint  all  the  committees  and  officers  and  draft  all  the  laws  necessary, 
but  the  folly  and  absurdity  of  the  effort  without  an  executive,  was  so 
apparent,  that  the  first  thing  decided  upon,  was,  Shall  we  have  an  ex 
ecutive  head,  called  a  governor,  or  a  committee  with  executive  powers  ! 
This  was  a  difficult  question,  under  all  the  votings  and  the  discussions 
that  had  taken  place.  The  committee  were  fully  aware  of  all  the  op 
position  they  must  contend  with.  The  judgeship  had  passed  by  vote 
of  the  people  at  Champoeg  from  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Mission  to 
Mr.  A.  E.  Wilson,  an  intelligent,  unassuming,  and  excellent  young  man, 
who  came  to  the  country  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  Gushing,  and  had 
become  a  settler. 

The  committee  were  well  assured  that  they  could  eventually  secure 
the  Methodist  Mission  influence,  yet  at  this  time  it  was  extremely 
doubtful,  and  they  feared  that  it  would,  as  in  the  previous  effort  of  1841, 
go  against  them,  with  that  of  the  Catholic  Mission  and  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company.  An  executive  committee  consisting  of  three  men  would 
form  a  council  that  could  act  in  any  emergency,  and  at  the  same  time 
enable  the  Methodist  Mission  to  be  represented  by  one  of  their  mem 
bers  in  the  Executive  Council. 

Alanson  Beers  was  a  good,  honest,  faithful,  and  intelligent  Christian 
man,  acting  with  heart  and  soul  with  the  interests  of  the  settlement 
and  the  American  cause.  The  settlers  could  rely  upon  him. 

David  Hill  was  a  resident  of  Hillsborough,  Tualatin  Plains,  and  was 
known  to  be  decidedly  opposed  to  the  company,  and  not  any  too  favor 
able  to  the  Catholic  and  Methodist  missions.  He  could  be  relied  upon 
so  far  as  the  outside  settlers  were  concerned,  and  Robert  Newell  could 
represent  the  Rocky  Mountain  men  and  such  of  the  Canadian-French 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  Roman  Catholics  as  were  disposed  to  join 
our  organization.  It  was  in  consequence  of  his  contending  so  strongly 
for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  rights,  interests,  and  privileges,  at 
Champoeg,  on  the  5th  of  July,  that  he  was  dropped,  and  Joseph  Gale 
(who  was  one  of  the  Ewing  Young  party  to  bring  cattle  from  Califor 
nia  to  the  Wallamet  settlement)  elected  in  his  place. 

With  the  understanding  as  above  indicated,  the  Legislative  Committee, 
consisting  of  Hon.  Robert  Moore,  David  Hill,  Robert  Shortess,  Alanson 
Beers,  W.  H.  Gray,  Thomas  J.  Hubbard,  James  A.  O'Neil,  Robert 
Newell,  and  William  Dougherty,  with  the  uplifted  hand  solemnly  de 
clared  before  God  that  they  would  faithfully  perform  the  duties  assigned 
them  by  the  people  of  this  settlement,  at  Champoeg,  on  the  2d  day  of 
Mayj  A.  D.  1843,  so  far  as  they  understood  the  duties  thus  assigned 


33S  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

them.  "W.  H.  Gray  then  by  request  administered  an  oath  to  the 
Speaker  elect,  that  he  would  faithfully  and  impartially  discharge  the 
duties  of  his  office  as  presiding  officer  of  the  present  appointed  Legisla 
tive  Committee  of  the  people  of  Oregon,  so  help  you  God  ;  to  which 
Beers  said,  Amen.  The  question  arose  as  to  the  appointment  of  a  clerk 
for  the  committee,  when  the  members  agreed,  if  necessary,  to  pay  his 
expenses  per  diem,  if  no  other  means  were  provided. 

George  W.  Le  Breton,  a  young  man  of  active  mind,  ready  with  the 
pen,  useful  and  agreeable,  and  practical  in  his  conversation,  having 
come  to  the  country  as  an  adventurer  in  a  vessel  with  Captain  Couch, 
was  chosen  secretary  and  duly  qualified  by  the  Speaker.  The  records  of 
the  proceedings,  as  published,  seem  to  have  left  out  the  preliminary  part 
of  this  Legislative  Committee's  proceedings.  This  is  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  compiler  had  no  personal  knowledge  of  them,  and  perhaps 
sought  information  from  those  as  ignorant  of  the  facts  as  himself;  hence 
the  meager  and  unsatisfactory  document  given  to  the  country.  Most,  or 
all  of  the  proceedings  thus  far  mentioned  were  with  closed  doors,  as 
will  be  seen  by  the  record  published.  It  was  not  deemed  important  by 
Messrs.  Newell,  O'Neil,  and  Hubbard,  to  have  any  record  of  our  daily 
proceedings,  .only  the  result  or  report.  Messrs.  Shortess,  Beers,  Gray, 
Dougherty,  and  Hill  thought  it  best  to  keep  a  record,  which  was  com 
menced. 

"  WALLAMET,  May  15,  1843. — The  Legislative  Committee  met,  and 
after  the  preliminary  discussions  above  alluded  to,  came  to  order  by 
electing  Robert  Moore,  Esq.,  chairman,  and  G.  W.  Le  Breton,  secre 
tary. 

"  On  motion  of  W.  H.  Gray,  a  committee  of  three  was  appointed 
by  the  chairman  to  prepare  rules  and  business  for  the  house.  This  com 
mittee  (Messrs.  Gray,  Shortess,  and  Newell),  at  once,  in  a  hasty  manner, 
prepared  eight  rules,  and  suggested  the  business  proposed  for  the  com 
mittee  as  a  whole  to  perform.  The  rules  were  taken  up  and  adopted 
with  scarcely  a  single  objection.  Up  to  this  time  no  one  except  mem 
bers  of  the  committee  had  been  allowed  a  place  in  the  house  as  specta 
tors. 

"  On  motion,  it  was  decided  that  the  committee  sit  with  open  doors. 
O'Neil,  Hubbard,  and  Dougherty  favored  the  closed-door  sessions,  as 
they  did  not  want  to  expose  their  ignorance  of  making  laws.  Newell 
thought  we  had  better  make  as  little  display  as  possible,  for  it  would 
all  be  known,  and  we  might  be  ashamed  of  what  we  had  done. 

"  Shortess,  Hill,  Gray,  and  Beers  were  willing  that  all  our  efforts  to 
make  laws  for  ourselves  should  be  fully  known,  and  were  ready  to  re 
ceive  instructions  and  advice  from  any  source.  The  deliberations  of  the 


LEGISLATIVE   COMMITTEE.  339 

committee,  they  were  confident,  would  not  prevent  opposition  or  aid 
the  opposers  of  our  proposed  organization. 

"On  motion,  a  judiciary  committee  was  appointed  by  the  Speaker  or 
chairman,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Beers,  Hubbard,  and  Shortess. 

"  On  motion,  a  committee  of  ways  and  means  was  appointed,  consist 
ing  of  Messrs.  Shortess,  O'Neil,  and  Dougherty." 

The  minutes  at  this  stage  show  that  there  was  a  doubt  as  to  the  dis 
position  of  the  Speaker,  Mr.  Moore,  to  place  the  best  men  as  chairmen 
of  the  several  committees.  Mr.  Moore  had  peculiar  notions  of  his  own 
about  land  claims,  and  had  placed  upon  the  committee,  I  think,  Robert 
Newell,  as  favoring  his  and  Dr.  McLaughlin's  pretensions  to  the  entire 
water  privileges  at  Wallamet  Falls,  which  resulted  in  the  appointment 
as  above  stated.  The  record  seems  to  convey  the  idea  that  the  first 
appointment  was  conferred  by  vote.  This  was  not  the  case.  It  was 
the  final  action  that  was  repeated  and  entered. 

"  On  motion,  a  committee,  consisting  of  Hubbard,  Newell,  and  Gray, 
was  appointed  on  military  affairs." 

TVe  have  not  the  original  documents  to  refer  to,  but  are  of  the  im 
pression  that  considerable  correction  was  made  in  the  first  day's  jour 
nal,  and  that  more  should  have  been  made  at  the  time.  There  was  a 
little  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  Speaker  and  the  writer  as  to  the  neces 
sity  of  an  extended  minute,  and  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Le 
Breton  to  do  as  little  writing  as  possible,  not  for  want  of  time  and  mate 
rial,  but,  from  the  deep  interest  he  took  in  the  discussions,  he  seemed  to 
forget  his  work.  I  am  not  prepared  to  think  the  compiler  has  abridged 
the  minutes,  yet  such  may  be  the  fact. 

"  On  motion,  Messrs.  Shortess,  Dougherty,  and  Hill  were  appointed 
a  committee  on  private  land  claims. 

"  On  motion,  Messrs.  Gray,  Dougherty,  and  Beers  were  appointed  a 
committee  on  districting  the  Territory  into  not  to  exceed  five  districts." 

This  committee,  it  seems  by  the  motion,  was  to  be  appointed  by  the 
chairman  or  Speaker. 

"Adjourned  to  8  o'clock,  A.  M.,  May  17,  1843. 

"  The  house  was  called  to  order  by  the  chairman,  and  Mr.  Gray  ap 
pointed  secretary,  pro  tern.  The  session  was  then  opened  with  prayer 
by  A.  Beers.  The  minutes  of  yesterday's  session  were  then  read,  cor 
rected,  and  accepted." 

The  house  then  adjourned  for  one  hour  and  a  half  to  prepare  busi 
ness,  at  the  expiration  of  which  time  they  were  called  to  order  by  the 
chairman. 

The  judiciary  committee  reported  progress.  The  military  committee 
reported  in  part ;  also  committee  on  districts. 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

"  Reports  accepted. 

"  It  was  moved  that  there  be  a  standing  committee  on  finance,  which 
was  lost,  as  the  vote  at  Champoeg  had  directed  that  the  finance  of  the 
government  should  be  by  subscription  and  voluntary  contribution. 

"Adjourned  to  1.30  P.  M. 

"  House  called  to  order  by  Speaker. 

*'  On  motion,  house  went  into  committee  of  the  whole  upon  reports 
of  committees,  Gray  in  the  chair.  It  was  soon  found  that  the  business 
before  the  committee  of  the  whole  was  not  in  a  shape  to  be  properly 
acted  upon,  and  that  by  an  open  and  informal  meeting  of  the  members, 
it  could  be  brought  into  shape  for  action,  or  rather  that  the  several 
members  of  the  different  committees  had  not  had  a  full  expression 
upon  the  reports  that  were  before  them,  and  these  expressions  could 
be  shortened  by  separate  committee  consultation  and  agreement  among 
the  members  of  the  several  committees ;  hence  an  adjournment  of  one 
hour  was  agreed  upon. 

"  At  the  close  of  the  hour  the  house  met  and  agreed,  went  into  com 
mittee  of  the  whole  as  to  the  number  of  districts.  The  report  of  the 
committee  accepted,  as  amended  in  committee  of  the  whole." 

The  question  arises  here  why  did  not  this  committee  on  districts, 
and  the  whole  Legislative  Committee,  specify  all  north  of  the  Columbia 
River  ? 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  with  all 
the  influence  and  votes  they,  with  the  priests,  could  collect,  had  met  the 
settlers  at  Champoeg  on  the  2d  of  May  previous,  and  opposed  the 
entire  organization;  and  the  French  priest  had  sent  to  the  Legislative 
Committee  a  protest  against  any  organization  ;  at  least  the  districting 
committee  was  aware  that  such  would  be  the  case,  as  the  protest 
already  given  was  in  the  hands  of  Le  Breton,  the  secretary  of  the  com 
mittee,  and  of  the  whole  house.  In  specifying  the  districts  beyond  the 
limits  named,  or  north  of  the  Columbia,  the  additional  votes  and 
personal  influence  of  the  company  would  be  thrown  against 
us.  The  district  committee  contended  that  that  influence  and  vote 
would  defeat  us,  and  make  us  an  English  or  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
settlement.  We  could,  without  the  interference  of  the  company, 
manage  our  own  affairs  with  such  of  the  French  settlers  as  chose  to 
remain  and  vote  with  us.  Such  as  did  not  like  our  laws  could  have  a 
place  to  which  they  could  continue  their  allegiance.  Besides,  we  were 
confident  we  should  receive  a  large  immigration  in  the  fall,  and  in  that 
case  we  could  extend  our  settlements  and  districts  and  laws  to  that 
section  of  the  country. 

Another  prominent,  and  perhaps  the  most  prominent  reason  of  all 


NEWELL'S   RESOLUTION.  341 

was,  we  were  afraid  to  attempt  to  enforce  any  la\vs  we  might  wish  to 
adopt,  or  think  necessary  among  ourselves,  upon  the  servants  of  the 
company.  We  did  not  acknowledge  their  right  to  enforce  any 
English  laws  over  us,  and  we,  as  the  writer  thought  then,  and  still 
thinks,  wisely  concluded  if  they  would  not  openly  interfere  with 
us,  we  would  not  openly  interfere  with  them,  till  we  were  strong 
enough  to  outnumber  and  control  them,  as  will  hereafter  be  clearly 
demonstrated. 

The  journal  of  the  proceedings  of  that  committee  shows  that  there 
were  frequent  short  adjournments.  These  moments  were  all  occupied 
in  discussing  and  agreeing  upon  some  report  that  was  soon  to  be 
acted  upon,  and  in  coming  to  a  unanimous  vote  as  to  the  final  result ; 
there  was  but  one  thought  and  but  one  object  with  the  majority  of 
the  members  of  the  Legislative  Committee. 

That  thought  and  object  was,  to  establish  the  provisional  government 
they  had  undertaken  to  organize.  They  felt  that  union  in  their  action 
was  absolutely  necessary,  as  the  opposing  elements  were  so  strong,  that 
without  it  we  must  fail,  and  subject  ourselves  and  the  settlement  to 
the  worst  possible  tyranny  and  humiliation  from.  Dr.  White  and  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

After  the  second  recess,  during  the  second  day,  the  report  of  the 
military  committee  was  before  the  house  and  instructions  asked.  New 
ell  was  opposed  to  any  military  arrangements  at  all.  Hubbard  was 
undecided.  Gray  insisted  on  carrying  out  the  instructions  and  ideas 
of  the  meeting  of  the  2d  of  May  in  regard  to  military  officers  that  had 
been  appointed  at  that  meeting,  and  in  preparing  rules  to  govern  them 
in  organizing  and  drilling  the  men.  He  was  unwilling  to  leave  the 
military  power  without  any  responsibility  to  any  one  but  themselves; 
hence  instruction  was  asked,  arid  given,  to  proceed  as  indicated  in  the 
meeting  at  Champoeg,  and  prepare  a  military  law,  to  be  included  in 
the  articles  of  organic  compact. 

"May  18,  1843. — House  met  pursuant  to  adjournment.  Session  was 
opened  by  prayer.  Minutes  of  yesterday's  session  read,  corrected,  and 
accepted. 

"  Robert  Newell  moved,  and  was  seconded,  that  a  committee  be 
appointed  to  prepare  a  paper  for  the  signature  of  all  persons  wishing 
an  organization." 

The  reader  is  already  informed  of  the  appearance  of  the  French 
protest,  and  that  it  was  in  the  possession  of  Le  Breton.  It  is  possible 
that  Newell  may  have  received  it  from  the  French  priest.  The  writer 
has  never  been  able  to  learn  the  exact  facts  in  the  case.  At  all  events 
NewelPs  resolution  shows,  that  however  willing  and  ready  he  was  to 


342  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

commence  the  organization  of  an  American  government  with  his 
adopted  countrymen,  he  is  now  in  doubt  as  to  the  propriety  of  the 
step  he,  with  others,  had  undertaken. 

He  presents  a  resolution  to  get  up  a  committee  to  prepare  a  paper 
to  circulate  among  the  people,  to  find  out  who  were  in  favor  of  the 
organization  we  were  then  attempting  to  bring  into  shape,  under  the 
instructions  already  received. 

Perhaps  the  reader  will  understand  Mr.  Newell  better  if  he  is  more 
fully  informed  as  to  his  real  genealogy,  as  there  has  always  been  a  little 
doubt  whether  he  belonged  to  the  American  or  British  nation.  From 
the  best  information  we  could  get  about  him,  he  was  formerly  from 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  the  Rocky  Mountains.  From  the  earliest  history 
we  have  of  him,  he  has  claimed  to  be  an  American,  and  represented  the 
interests  of  a  foreign  monopoly,  under  a  religious  belief  that  he  was 
conscientiously  right  in  so  doing.  By  keeping  himself  talking  strong 
American  sentiments  to  Americans,  and  acting  strongly  anti- American 
"while  in  the  mountains  and  in  the  settlement,  he  succeeded  in  obtaining 
and  holding  positions  to  benefit  the  trade  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany ;  also  a  place  in  the  Legislative  Committee,  and  in  the  settler's 
government,  to  shield  and  protect  those  who  were  seeking  the  destruc 
tion  of  all  American  trade  and  influence  in  the  country.  He  was  a 
man  of  quite  ordinary  ability,  yet  smooth  and  insinuating  in  his  man 
ners,  with  a  great  abundance  of  plausible  stories,  to  make  a  stranger 
believe  he  was  learned  in  a  profession.  His  real  sentiments  could 
never  be  learned  except  by  his  vote  ;  his  thoughts  only  read  by  his 
acts,  which  always  tended  to  complicate  and  contuse  legislation.  This 
probably  arose  from  a  disposition  to  seek  popularity  and  places  he  was 
incompetent  to  fill;  as,  also,  from  the  title  he  assumed  in  early  life,  it 
naturally  made  him  a  hypocrite  in  action  as  well  as  profession.  He  had 
not  the  moral  principle  requisite  to  make  known  the  truth,  and  to 
assume  his  proper  position  and  be  regarded  as  a  plain  man  without  a 
title.  As  plain  Bob  Newell  he  could  be  respected  for  his  natural  and 
genial  talent.  As  Dr.  Newell  he  assumes  an  air  to  correspond  with 
the  title,  and  shows  the  hypocrisy  of  his  life.  He  was  at  this  time,  and 
has  continued  to  be,  a  faithful  representative  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  and  Jesuit  interests  in  the  country,  for  which  service  they 
should  enter  his  name  upon  their  calendar  of  saints.  As  a  public  man, 
we  are  not  aware  that  he  ever  originated  a  single  act  or  law ;  but  as 
representing  a  clique,  or  the  interests  of  his  masters,  he  has  always  been 
ready  to  do  his  utmost  in  every  possible  way.  At  the  time  we  were 
called  to  vote  upon  Mr.  Newell's  first  resolution,  his  position  was  fully 
known  to  but  few,  yet  enough  was  understood  of  his  duplicity  to  reject 


REPORT   OF  JUDICIARY  COMMITTEE.  34.3 

his  proposition  at  once,  and  the  house  proceeded  to  amend  its  rules 
and  add  a  ninth  to  those  already  adopted. 

The  report  of  the  military  committee  was  recommitted  with  instruc 
tions  for  further  action.  Mr.  Hubbard  was  considerably  under  the  in 
fluence  of  Newell,  and  in  consequence  of  this  fact  the  military  rules  or 
laws  were  remodeled  in  committee  of  the  whole.  Newell  and  Hubbard 
were  disposed  to  defeat  it  altogether  as  unnecessary,  as  intimated  iii 
the  tenth  proposition  in  the  French  priest's  address.  In  fact,  Mr. 
Newell  acted  all  through  the  proceedings  of  the  Legislative  Committee 
upon  the  ideas  contained  in  that  address,  and  opposed  all  measures 
looking  beyond  the  suggestions  contained  in  it. 

At  this  point,  the  judiciary  committee,  consisting  of  Beers,  Hubbard, 
and  Shortess,  reported  in  part  on  the  executive  power,  and  opened  the 
eyes  of  Dr.  Newell  to  the  awful  responsibility  and  to  a  full  realization 
of  the  fact  that  a  majority  of  the  committee  were  in  favor  of  an  organi 
zation,  arid  a  real,  actual  American  government.  He  took  the  floor 
and  commenced  :  "  Wall,  reelly  now,  Mr.  Chairman,  this  'ere  report  is 
a  stumper.  I  see  from  the  report  of  this  'ere  committee  that  you  are 
going  on  a  little  too  fast.  I  think  you  had  better  find  out  if  we  can 
carry  this  thing  through  before  we  go  too  far.  We  have  a  good  many 
people  that  don't  know  what  we  are  about,  and  I  think  we  had  better 
adjourn  before  we  go  too  far." 

In  the  rnidst  of  this  speech,  which  was  a  repetition  of  the  reasons  for 
getting  up  the  paper  to  find  out  who  were  favorable  to  our  proposed 
government,  the  house  was  so  uncourteous  as  to  adjourn  and  leave  the 
balance  of  Dr.  Newell's  speech  unrepeated.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  in 
those  short  adjournments  as  noted  in  the  Oregon  archives,  nearly  or 
quite  all  the  little  differences  of  opinion  were  quickly  explained  and 
understood  by  a  majority  of  the  members.  The  exact  subjects  that 
were  before  them  at  the  several  meetings  we  have  no  documents  to  in 
dicate,  and  we  can  only  be  governed  by  such  documents  as  we  have,  to 
wit,  the  record  and  our  own  memory. 

Newell  was  the  only  prominent  opposerof  the  report  of  the  judiciary 
committee,  which  was  prepared  by  Robert  Shortess,  to  whose  memory 
we  are  indebted  for  a  remarkable  speech  of  Hon.  Mr.  Robert  Newell 
on  that  occasion.  Mr.  Shortess  says  the  discussion  was  on  the  question 
of  who  should  be  deemed  voters.  Most  of  the  committee  were  in  favor 
of  universal  suffrage,  and,  as  Dr.  Newell  had  a  native  wife,  naturally 
supposed  he  would  be  quite  as  liberal  as  those  who  had  full  white  fam 
ilies  ;  but  the  doctor  gave  us  one  of  his  "  stumpers,"  or,  as  he  calls  it, 
"  big  fir-tree  speeches"  by  saying:  "  Wall,  now,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  think 
we  have  got  quite  high  enough  among  the  dark  clouds  •  I  do  not  believe 


344:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

we  ought  to  go  any  higher.  It  is  well  enough  to  admit  the  English, 
the  French,  the  Spanish,  and  the  half-breeds,  but  the  Indian  and  the 
negro  is  a  little  too  dark  for  me.  I  think  we  had  better  stop  at  the 
half-breeds.  I  am  in  favor  of  limiting  the  right  to  vote  to  them,  and 
going  no  further  into  the  dark  clouds  to  admit  the  negro." 

We  confess  that  till  Mr.  Shortess  reminded  us  of  this  speech,  and  the 
manner  of  its  delivery,  it  had  escaped  our  memory,  and  that,  without 
it,  Mr.  Newell  could  scarcely  receive  his  proper  position  in  the  history 
of  our  early  struggle  for  American  liberty  upon  this  coast.  His  position 
and  the  patronage  he  received  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  were 
sufficient  for  him  to  work  effectually  in  their  interests  through  all  our 
struggle. 

"At  the  evening  session  of  May  18,  the  committee  on  ways  and 
means  were  instructed  to  prepare  a  subscription  for  presenting  at  the 
general  meeting,  to  procure  funds  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  govern 
ment,  after  spending  a  short  time  in  committee  of  the  whole. 

"  Adjourned  till  next  day. 

"May  19,  1843. — House  met  pursuant  to  adjournment.  Opened  with 
prayer.  Moved  that  the  minutes  of  the  18th  be  accepted.  Taking  the 
whole  subject  of  the  organization  into  consideration,  Gray  presented 
the  following  resolution  that  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  pre 
pare  and  arrange  all  the  business  that  has  been  done,  or  may  be  done 
hereafter  at  this  session,  revising  statutes  of  Iowa,  etc.,  report  at 
the  next  session  of  the  committee,  and  request  the  clerk  to  copy  the 
fame. 

"  Resolution  adopted. 

"  Messrs.  Gray,  Beers,  and  O'Neil  were  appointed ;  these  three  living 
within  fifteen  miles  of  each  other,  it  was  thought  could  meet  and  super 
intend  and  revise  the  whole  proceedings,  and  get  them  in  shape  for 
the  public  meeting. 

"  Committee  of  ways  and  means  reported  a  subscription,  which  was 
accepted,  and  the  military  committee  reported  in  part,  which  was 
accepted. 

"Adjourned  to  2  p.  M. 

"  At  2  P.  M.  house  met.  The  judiciary  committee  reported  in  full. 
Report  accepted." 

On  the  20th  page  of  the  archives,  and  in  reference  to  the  proviso  in 
the  fourth  article  of  the  organic  law,  the  record  does  not  give  us  the 
fact.  The  proviso  referred  to  was  pre  >  red  but  not  included  in  the 
original  act,  as  reported  and  read  at  Champoeg,  but  was  adopted  at 
Champoeg.  The  report  was  duly  referred  to  the  revising  committee, 
and  the  proviso  left  in  the  hands  of  Le  Breton  to  be  withheld  or  pre- 


DOUBTFUL  MISSION  INFLUENCE.  345 

sented,  as  the  occasion  might  require,  in  the  final  action  of  the  people. 
The  large  pretensions  to  lands  by  the  Methodist  and  Catholic  mis 
sions  were  fully  understood  by  the  entire  committee.  They  wished  to 
curtail  them  as  much  as  possible,  and  were  fully  aware  that  any  direct 
action  to  this  end  would  bring  the  whole  influence  of  both  missions 
against  them. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

Fourth  of  July,  1843. — Oration  by  Mr.  Hines. — Meeting  of  July  5. — Debate  on  the 
land  law. — How  the  Jesuits  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  secured  their  land 
claims. — Speech  of  the  Rev.  G-.  Hines  against  the  proposed  Executive  Committee. 
— The  committee  supported  by  O'Xeil,  Shortess,  and  Lee. — "W.  H.  Gray  closes,  the 
debate. — The  report  of  the  committee  adopted. — Committee  appointed  to  report  to 
Congress,  another  to  make  a  Digest  of  Territorial  laws,  and  a  third  to  prepare  and 
administer  an  oath  of  office 

ON  the  4th  of  July  our  national  anniversary  was  observed,  and  an 
oration  was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  G.  Hines.  The  committee  favored 
the  selection  of  Mr.  Hines  as  orator,  that  they  might  gain  his  views, 
and  be  ready  to  meet  him  on  the  main  questions  that  would  be  brought 
up  on  the  fifth.  In  this,  however,  we  failed,  as  he  dwelt  principally 
upon  the  subjects  of  temperance,  the  glorious  deeds  of  our  forefathers 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  influences  and  bless 
ings  of  the  day.  No  Englishman,  or  foreigner,  could  have  taken  any 
exceptions  to  his  sentiments  or  language.  On  the  5th,  Dr.  Babcock, 
chairman  of  the  meeting  of  May  2,  being  absent,  the  meeting  was 
called  to  order  by  G.  W.  Le  Breton,  one  of  the  secretaries  of  the  May 
meeting.  On  motion,  the  Rev.  Gustavus  Hines  was  elected  president 
of  the  convention  by  acclamation.  R.  Moore,  Esq.,  chairman  of  the 
Legislative  Committee,  presented  his  report,  which  was  read  by  Secre 
tary  Le  Breton,  and  on  motion  accepted.  Rev.  L.  II.  Judson  moved 
that  the  report  of  the  committee  on  ways  and  means  be  accepted. 
This  motion  brought  the  land  law  up  for  discussion.  The  Legislative 
Committee  as  a  whole  reported  that  law  entire,  to  the  proviso  in  the 
fourth  article.  Upon  the  first  part  of  that  article  a  discussion  arose  be 
tween  Mr.  Newell  and  the  members  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  as  to  the 
right  of  any  single  individual  to  hold  a  claim  of  640  acres  upon  a  city 
or  town  site,  or  extensive  water  privilege.  Mr.  Moore  agreed  with  Mr. 
Newell  on  that  question,  as  he  claimed  one  side  of  the  Wallamet  River 
at  the  falls,  and  Dr.  McLaughlin  the  other.  The  Methodist  Mission 
also  claimed  a  right  to  the  east  side  of  the  Wallamet,  and  the  Milling 
Company  claimed  the  island,  upon  which  they  were  erecting  mills.  Mr. 
Newell  opposed  the  fourth  article,  to  favor  Dr.  McLaughlin ;  the  Metho 
dist  Mission  and  Milling  Company  favored  the  article  on  the  ground 
that  it  secured  them  in  their  rights,  and  prevented  a  monopoly  of  that 


MISSION   CLAIMS.  347 

water-power  by  any  single  individual.  Rev.  Jason  Lee  was  anxious  to 
secure  the  rights  and  claims  of  the  Methodist  Mission.  So  far  as  the 
water  privilege  and  town  sites  were  concerned,  there  were  no  fears  on 
the  part  of  the  committee,  but  in  reference  to  the  large  claims  of  the 
Methodist  Mission,  there  were  fears  that  Mr.  Lee  and  Mr.  Hines  would 
oppose  our  whole  effort,  and  combine  the  influence  of  their  mission 
against  the  organization.  To  satisfy  Rev.  Jason  Lee,  Le  Breton  pre 
sented  the  proviso  as  contained  in  the  fourth  article,  which  removed  his 
objection.  The  committee  were  well  assured  that  the  Jesuit  missions 
would  claim  the  same  right  to  land,  and  in  this  way,  the  one  mission 
would  be  induced  to  give  up  to  curtail  the  other.  This  occurred  as 
anticipated,  only  the  Mefchodist  Mission  held  on  to  their  claims,  and 
attempted  to  maintain  them  publicly,  while  the  Jesuits  did  the  same 
thing  silently,  and  by  having  their  lands  recorded  in  the  supposed 
names  of  their  members,  or  priests,  the  same  as  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  recorded  all  their  improvements  and  forts  in  the  names  of 
their  different  servants,  so  as  to  hold  them  for  the  company;  the 
company  and  the  Jesuits  having,  as  they  supposed,  secured  their  own 
claims  to  land  in  the  name  of  their  respective  servants,  joined  with  the 
new  immigrants,  in  condemning  the  large  pretensions  of  the  Metho 
dist  Mission,  and  in  this  way  prejudiced  the  minds  of  the  settlers 
against  it  for  doing,  openly,  just  what  they  had  done  in  the  names  of 
their  servants,  secretly. 

On  the  final  vote  there  were  but  few  dissenting  voices,  except  upon 
the  adoption  of  the  proviso.  It  may  be  asked  why  the  land  law  was 
brought  up  first.  The  minutes  as  recorded  on  the  twenty-third  and 
twenty-fourth  pages  of  the  Oregon  archives,  show  that  Mr.  Judson 
moved  the  adoption  of  the  report  of  the  committee  on  ways  and  means. 
This  was  all  the  minute  that  was  made,  as  the  business  and  discussion 
progressed.  The  report  on  the  land  law  was  deemed,  by  the  com 
mittee,  to  be  of  the  first  importance,  as  all  were  personally  interested 
in  the  law  about  land  claims ;  and  upon  the  discussion  of  that  report, 
they  could  learn  the  result  of  the  whole  effort,  and  the  feelings  of 
the  people  as  to  the  permanence  of  the  proposed  government.  The 
notice  of  the  report  of  the  committee  on  ways  and  means,  on  page  24, 
and  of  the  proviso,  is  entered,  to  show  that  the  amendments  alluded 
to  were  made.  We  are  of  the  opinion,  that  had  Mr.  Le  Breton  lived 
to  copy  those  minutes,  he  would  have  so  changed  them.  He  says 
such  amendment  and  proviso  were  adopted.  To  this  fact  we  have 
affirmed  under  oath  as  being  a  part  of  the  provisional  law  adopted  at 
that  meeting.  This  brings  us  to  the  first  clause  of  the  organic  law, 
as  adopted  by  the  people  in  mass  convention. 


348  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

The  preamble  and  first  article  were  adopted  on  motion  of  Joseph 
McLaughlin,  the  second  son  of  Dr.  John  McLaughlin,  who  took  an 
active  part  in  favoring  the  organization,  against  the  wishes  and  influ 
ence  of  his  family. 

The  second  article  was  read,  and,  on  motion  of  L.  II.  Judson,  was 
adopted. 

The  third,  on  motion  of  C.  McRoy,  and  the  fourth,  on  motion  of 
Joseph  Holman,  were  also  adopted. 

On  motion  to  adopt  the  fifth  article,  "  on  the  executive  power,"  it 
was  plain  to  be  seen  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hines  was  swelling  and  becom 
ing  uneasy,  in  proportion  as  the  Rev.  Jason  Lee  appeared  to  be  satisfied 
with  the  proceedings.  He  hesitated  to  put  the  motion,  called  Robert 
Moore,  the  chairman  of  the  Legislative  Committee,  to  the  chair,  and 
commenced : — 

"  Mr.  President,  gentlemen,  and  fellow-citizens, — The  Legislative 
Committee  which  you  appointed  to  prepare  certain  laws,  and  perform 
a  certain  duty,  have  assumed  to  present  for  your  approval  something 
they  had  no  right,  in  all  the  instructions  given  them,  to  present.  They 
have  commenced  a  course  which,  if  not  checked,  will  lead  to  the  worst 
possible  vform  of  despotism.  Grant  them  the  privilege  which  they  now 
ask,  of  imposing  upon  this  settlement,  upon  you  and  me  and  our  fami 
lies,  this  hydra-headed  monster  in  the  shape  of  an  Executive  Commit 
tee,  and  we  have  but  the  repetition  of  the  Roman  Triumvirate — the 
Caesars  upon  the  throne.  We  may  be  told  by  them,  in  excuse  for  the 
violation  of  plain  and  positive  instructions,  that  they  found  it  difficult 
to  proceed  with  the  organizing  of  a  temporary  government  without  an 
executive ;  and  here  they  have  brought  before  you  this  monstrosity — 
this  black  bear — this  hydra-headed  monster ',  in  the  shape  of  an  Execu 
tive  Committee  ;  and  ask  you  to  adopt  it,  as  necessary  to  preserve  your 
civil  liberties  and  rights. 

"  Gentlemen  and  fellow-citizens, — You  have  but  to  look  to  past  his 
tory,  to  warn  you  of  the  dangers  of  so  palpable  a  violation  of  instruc 
tions  on  the  part  of  public  servants.  You  instructed  them  to  do  a 
certain  work,  to  prepare  certain  laws.  If  they  could  not  do  as  in 
structed,  let  them  resign  and  go  home.  So  far  as  they  performed  the 
duties  assigned  them,  wre  can  approve  of  their  acts ;  but  when  they 
attempt  to  force  upon  us  what  we  have  not  asked  of  them,  but  said  to 
them  we  do  not  want  this  monstrosity  with  three  heads,  yet  they  per 
sist  in  saying  we  do ;  and  have  gone  on  and  made  their  laws  to  cor 
respond  with  this  absurd  and  outrageous  thing  they  call  Executive 
Committee.  Is  it  wise,  is  it  reasonable,  that  we  should  submit  to  it  ? 
What  assurance  have  we  that  the  next  Legislative  Committee,  or  body 


THE  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE.  349 

we  may  appoint,  following  the  example  set  by  this  one,  will  not  give 
us  a  king  or  emperor,  and  tell  us  it  is  necessary  to  complete  our  organi 
zation  ?  " 

Many  of  the  persons  present  at  Champoeg  on  the  5th  of  July,  1843, 
will  recollect  this  speech,  and  the  strong  and  emphatic  manner  in  which 
it  was  delivered.  Why  Mr.  Hines  did  not  move  to  strike  out  the  ex 
ecutive  clause  has  always  been  a  mystery  to  us.  When  he  had  resumed 
his  seat  as  president  of  the  convention,  Mr.  O'Neil  made  a  few  remarks, 
explaining  the  position  of  the  committee,  Mr.  Shortess  followed,  deny 
ing  the  assumption  of  power  attributed  to  the  committee,  or  a  disposi 
tion  to  go  beyond  their  instructions,  and  urged  the  necessity  of  a  head 
or  some  controlling  influence  somewhere.  Could  we  rely  upon  Captains 
McCarty,  or  McKay,  or  Smith  to  call  out  their  companies ;  or  Major 
Howard?  Should  the  military  control  the  civil  power?  "The  thing  is 
absurd,"  said  Shortess.  Rev.  Jason  Lee  could  not  see  the  proposed 
executive  head  of  the  proposed  provisional  government  in  the  light 
Mr.  Hines  did.  If  it  was  thought  necessary  to  have  a  government  at 
all,  it  was  necessary  to  have  a  head,  and  an  executive,  or  the  laws 
were  of  no  effect. 

It  was  arranged  with  the  Legislative  Committee,  that  Gray  should 
meet  Hines  on  this  question,  and  make  the  last  speech  in  favor  of  the 
executive  department.  Hence  O'Neil  and  Shortess  both  spoke  in  favor 
of  it.  Dr.  Babcock  was  opposed,  on  account  of  its  going  beyond  pres 
ent  necessities,  and  looking  too  much  like  a  permanent  and  independent 
government ;  whereas  we  only  wished  to  form  a  temporary  one.  He 
thought  with  Mr.  Hines,  that  the  committee  had  gone  beyond  their  in 
structions  in  providing  for  this  executive  power,  still  he  was  willing  to 
abide  the  decision  of  the  people.  There  was  a  little  uncertainty  as  to 
Mr.  Lee's  final  vote.  Dr.  Babcock  was  clearly  against  us.  Mr.  Hines 
made  but  the  one  speech.  From  the  course  the  debate  had  taken,  Gray 
had  no  fears  as  to  the  final  result,  and  waited  until  it  was  evident  that 
no  more  opposing  speeches  would  be  made  when  he  commenced : — 

"Mr.  President  and  fellow-citizens, — The  speech  which  we  have  just 
listened  to,  from  our  presiding  officer,  is  in  the  main  correct.  It  is  true 
that  the  Legislative  Committee  were  not  instructed  to  bring  before  you 
an  executive  department  in  the  laws  and  government  you  proposed  to 
form,  when  you  appointed  your  committee  to  prepare  those  laws.  It 
is  also  true,  that  when  that  committee  met,  they  found  that  they  could 
not  advance  one  step  in  accomplishing  the  work  you  instructed  them 
to  perform,  without  some  supervising  influence,  or  power,  somewhere ; 
in  short,  without  a  head.  Their  instructions  were  against  a  governor. 
They  have  provided  an  Executive  Committee,  in  place  of  a  single  man 


350  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

for  governor.  This  executive  head  is  to  act  in  the  place  of  senate, 
council,  and  governor.  This  provision  is  before  you  for  your  approval 
or  rejection.  With  this  Executive  Committe  our  organization  is  com 
plete  ;  without  it  we  have  no  head ;  no  one  to  see  that  our  laws  are 
executed,  and  no  one  to  grant  a  reprieve  or  pardon  in  case  a  law  should 
be  enforced  against  the  life  or  property  of  any  one,  for  the  violation  of 
any  law,  no  matter  what  the  circumstances  connected  with  that  real  or 
supposed  violation  might  be.  The  pardon  and  mercy  part  of  our  law 
is  in  that  '  horrible  hydra-headed  monster '  that  the  gentleman  spoke 
about,  and  warned  us  against ;  and  instead  of  its  being  as  black  as  his 
*  bear,'  it  becomes  light  and  mercy  to  the  erring  and  the  ignorant.  As 
to  the  example  set  by  your  committee  for  future  despots  to  rob  us  of 
our  liberty,  and  place  over  us  a  king  or  an  emperor,  you  and  I  have  no 
fears  so  long  as  we  elect  our  own  legislative  bodies. 

"  Now,  fellow-citizens,  let  us  look  calmly  at  our  true  situation.  We 
are  two  thousand  five  hundred  miles  from  any  point  from  which  we 
can  receive  the  least  assistance  by  land  ;  and  seventeen  thousand  miles 
by  water.  A  portion  of  our  community  are  organized  and  ready  to 
protect  themselves,  and  to  defend  all  their  rights  and  interests. 
Another  organization  of  a  religious  character  is  in  our  midst, — I  should 
say,  two.  They  each  have  a  head — an  executive.  How  is  it  with  us? 
Who  is  our  head  in  all  that  pertains  to  our  civil  liberty,  rights,  and 
property  ?  It  is  possible  the  gentleman  may  wish  us  to  remain  as  un 
protected,  as  helpless  and  exposed  to  all  the  dangers  that  surround  us 
on  every  hand,  as  we  have  heretofore  been.  If  he  does,  you,  fellow- 
citizens,  I  am  sure,  do  not  wish  to  add  to  his  feebleness  by  destroying  the 
organization  you  have  commenced,  because  he  is  afraid  of  what  some 
Caesar  did  in  Rome  some  centuries  past.  We  are  acting  for  ourselves 
and  those  immediately  dependent  upon  us  for  protection.  In  union 
there  is  strength.  I  believe  you  are  fully  satisfied  that  your  committee 
have  acted  honestly,  and,  as  they  thought,  for  the  good  of  all  they 
represented.  If  such  is  the  case,  you  will  approve  of  their  acts,  and 
our  organization  will  be  complete  as  they  have  prepared  it  for  this 
meeting." 

On  the  question  being  taken,  there  were  but  two  or  three  votes 
against  the  executive,  or  fifth  section.  Mr.  Lee  informed  the  writer 
that  he  saw  plainly  enough  that  the  meeting  was  determined  to  have 
a  government  of  some  kind,  and  that  probably  the  Executive  Com 
mittee  was  the  best  at  first.  This  point  gained,  the  remainder  was  soon 
disposed  of. 

The  marriage  fee  was  changed,  in  the  seventeenth  article,  from  three 
dollars  to  one  dollar. 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   OATH.  35} 

The  resolution  referred  to  as  the  nineteenth  was:  "  Resolved,  That 
a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  draw  up  a  digest  of  all  the  laws 
and  proceedings  of  the  people  of  this  Territory,  in  relation  to  the  pres 
ent  provisional  government,  and  the  reasons  for  forming  the  same ; 
and  forward  said  digest  and  report  to  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  for  their  information."  Rev.  Jason  Lee,  Rev.  Gustavus  Hines, 
and  Mr.  C.  M.  Walker  were  chosen  that  committee,  and  instructed  to 
have  access  to  all  public  documents,  and  to  call  upon  any  individual  for 
any  information  they  might  deem  necessary  in  carrying  out  their  in 
structions. 

That  committee,  so  far  as  performing  their  duty  and  carrying  out  the 
wishes  of  the  people  were  concerned,  did  the  same  as  the  reverend 
Legislative  Committee  did  in  1841 ;  they  neglected  the  thing  alto 
gether,  and  paid  no  attention  to  the  object  of  the  resolution.  Still,  at 
the  present  d:iy,  when  the  same  reverend  gentlemen  are  charged  with 
having  done  all  they  could  against  the  early  settlers'  government,  they 
attempt  to  repel  the  charge,  and  take  great  credit  to  themselves  for 
the  perseverance  of  others  in  securing  permanent  laws  and  protection 
for  themselves  and  the  settlements. 

Messrs.  Beers,  Hill,  and  Gale,  were  chosen  by  ballot  as  the  first  Exec 
utive  Committee. 

Hugh  Burns,  who  had  been  chosen  at  the  May  meeting  as  justice  of 
the  peace,  had  resigned,  and  Robert  Moore  was  chosen  to  fill  his 
place. 

The  committee  had  prepared  a  full  list  of  the  laws  of  Iowa,  to  recom 
mend  for  the  adoption  of  the  people,  which  wns  presented  and  read, 
some  slight  amendments  made,  and  the  list  adopted. 

The  report  of  the  Legislative  Committee  was  adopted  as  a  whole; 
and  on  motion  it  was  "  Resolved,  That  the  president  of  the  convention 
assisted  by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Lee,  Clark,  and  Leslie,  be  a  committee  to 
draft  and  administer  an  oath  of  office  to  the  civil  officers  elected  on 
the  2d  of  May,  1843,  and  that  said  officers  be  required  to  subscribe  to 
the  same ;  and  administer  the  oath  to  the  supreme  judge,  who  shall 
hereafter  qualify  all  civil  and  military  officers  to  be  elected  by  the  peo 
ple."  At  this  point,  a  question  arose  in  the  mind  of  the  last-named 
committee,  whether  they  would  proceed  that  night  to  administer  the 
proposed  oath,  or  defer  it  till  some  other  time.  There  were  some 
earnest  and  determined  men  in  that  convention,  who  were  not  to  be 
defeated  at  the  last  moment  by  the  disposition  of  these  reverend  gentle 
men  to  delay  the  concluding  ceremony  of  drafting  and  administering 
the  oath  of  office  to  the  persons  the  people  had  chosen.  To  relieve 
them  of  all  doubt  as  to  the  wish  of  the  convention  (although  it  was 


352  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

then  nearly  dark),  it  was  moved  and  carried,  "  that  the  committee  to 
qualify  officers  proceed  to  the  performance  of  their  duty,  as  far  as  prac 
ticable,  this  evening."  Judge  Wilson  was  not  present. 

Rev.  Jason  Lee  noticed  that  Mr.  Beers  received  the  smallest  number 
of  votes  given  for  any  member  of  the  Executive  Committee.  This  to 
him,  and  probably  to  Messrs.  Leslie  and  Hines,  was  unaccountable  ;  but 
not  so  to  us,  who  understood  the  general  feeling  of  opposition  against 
the  rule  of  the  missionaries  and  their  large  claims  to  land  ;  as  also  the 
secret  prejudices  excited  against  them  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
and  the  Jesuits,  who  attributed  the  entire  government  movement  to 
them,  while  the  organization  was  that  of  the  settlers  unaided  by  any 
mission,  except  individual  members  of  the  Protestant  missions.  This 
was  probably  the  reason  for  the  proposition  to  delay  qualifying  the 
officers  elected,  and  carrying  out  the  decided  wish  of  the  convention. 
This  fact  simply  shows  a  reluctant  assent  to  the  organization  by  the 
principal  members  of  the  missions.  The  French  address  showed  the 
feelings  of  the  French  and  Catholics,  while  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
stood  entirely  aloof  from  it,  and  expected  to  defeat  the  whole  move 
ment  by  the  influence  of  such  men  as  the  Rev.  G.  Hines,  Dr.  White, 
Robert  Newell,  and  the  Indians. 

We  have  two  copies  of  the  organic  laws  adopted  by  the  people  at 
Champoeg  ;  one  published  by  Charles  Saxton  in  1846,  and  the  other  by 
the  compiler  of  the  Oregon  archives  in  1853.  That  published  by  Mr. 
Saxton  corresponds  nearer  with  our  own  recollections  of  the  facts  of 
the  case ;  hence  we  will  copy  them  as  given  by  him. 


CHAPTER  XLY. 

Organic  laws. — Resolutions. — Districts. — Militia  law. — Land  claims. — Certificate. 

THE  Legislative  Committee  recommend  that  the  following  organic 
laics  be  adopted  : — 

WE,  the  people  of  Oregon  Territory,  for  purposes  of  mutual  protection, 
and  to  secure  peace  and  prosperity  among  ourselves,  agree  to 
adopt  the  following  laws  and  regulations,  until  such  time  as  the 
United  States  of  America  extend  their  jurisdiction  over  us: — 

SECTION  I. 

J3e  it  enacted  by  the  free  citizens  of  Oregon  Territory,  That  the  said 
Territory,  for  the  purposes  of  temporary  government,  be  divided  into 
not  less  than  three,  nor  more  than  five,  districts ;  subject  to  be  extended 
to  a  greater  number  when  an  increase  of  population  shall  require. 

For  the  purpose  of  fixing  the  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty 
as  the  basis  of  all  laws  and  constitutions  of  government  that  may  here 
after  be  adopted,  JBe  it  enacted,  That  the  following  articles  be  considered 
articles  of  compact  among  the  free  citizens  of  this  Territory. 

ARTICLE  1.  No  person  demeaning  himself  in  a  peaceable  or  orderly 
manner  shall  ever  be  molested  on  account  of  his  mode  of  worship  or 
religious  sentiments. 

ART.  2.  The  inhabitants  of  said  Territory  shall  always  be  entitled  to 
the  benefit  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  and  trial  by  jury,  of  a  pro 
portionate  representation  in  the  Legislature,  and  of  judicial  proceeding 
according  to  the  course  of  common  law.  All  persons  shall  be  bailable, 
unless  for  capital  oifenses,  where  the  proof  shall  be  evident,  or  the 
presumption  great.  All  fines  shall  be  moderate,  and  no  cruel  or  un 
natural  punishments  inflicted.  ISTo  man  shall  be  deprived  of  his  liberty 
but  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers,  or  the  law  of  the  land  ;  and  should 
the  public  exigences  make  it  necessary,  for  the  common  preservation, 
to  take  any  person's  property,  or  to  demand  his  particular  services, 
full  compensation  shall  be  made  for  the  same.  And  in  the  just  preser 
vation  of  rights  and  property,  it  is  understood  and  declared  that  no 
law  ought  ever  to  be  made,  or  have  force  in  said  Territory,  that  shall 
in  any  manner  whatever  interfere  with,  or  affect,  private  contracts,  or 
engagements  bona  fide  made  and  without  fraud  previously  formed. 

23 


354-  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

ART.  3.  Religion,  morality,  and  knowledge,  being  necessary  to  good 
government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of 
education  shall  forever  be  encouraged. 

ART.  4.  The  utmost  good  faith  shall  always  be  observed  toward  the 
Indians,  their  lands  and  property  shall  never  be  taken  from  them  with 
out  their  consent,  and  in  their  property,  rights,  and  liberty,  they  shall 
never  be  invaded  or  disturbed,  unless  in  just  and  lawful  wars,  author 
ized  by  the  representatives  of  the  people.  But  laws,  founded  in  jus 
tice  and  humanity,  shall,  from  time  to  time,  be  made,  for  preventing 
injustice  being  done  to  them,  and  for  preserving  peace  and  friendship. 

ART.  5.  There  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in 
said  Territory,  otherwise  than  for  the  punishment  of  crimes,  whereof 
the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted. 

SECTION  II. 

ARTICLE  1.  Be,  it  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the  officers 
elected  on  the  2d  of  May  instant  shall  continue  in  office  until  the  second 
Tuesday  of  May,  1844,  and  until  others  are  elected  and  qualiiied. 

ART.  2.  An  election  for  civil  and  military  officers  shall  be  held  an 
nually  upon  the  second  Tuesday  in  May  in  the  several  districts,  at  such 
places  as  shall  be  designated  by  law. 

ART.  3.  Each  officer  heretofore  elected,  or  that  shall  hereafter  be 
elected,  shall,  before  entering  upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  take  an 
oath  or  affirmation  to  support  the  laws  of  the  Territory,  and  faithfully 
-  discharge  the  duties  of  his  office. 

ART.  4.  Every  free  male  descendant  of  a  white  mem,  inhabitant  of 
this  Territory,  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  and  upward,  who  shall 
have  been  an  inhabitant  of  this  Territory  at  the  time  of  its  organiza 
tion,  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  at  the  election  of  officers,  civil  and 
military,  and  be  eligible  to  any  office  in  the  Territory ;  Provided,  That  all 
persons  of  the  description  entitled  to  vote  by  the  provision  of  this 
section,  who  shall  emigrate  to  this  Territory  after  the  organization, 
shall  be  entitled  to  the  rights  of  citizens  after  having  resided  six 
months  in  the  Territory. 

ART.  5.  The  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  committee  of  three 
persons,  elected  by  the  qualified  voters  at  the  annual  election,  who  shall 
have  power  to  grant  pardons  and  reprieves  for  offenses  against  the  laws 
of  the  Territory,  to  call  out  the  military  force  of  the  Territory,  to  repel  in 
vasions  or  suppress  insurrections,  to  take  care  that  the  laws  are  faithfully 
executed,  and  to  recommend  such  laws  as  they  may  consider  necessary 
to  the  representatives  of  the  people  for  their  action.  Two  members  of 
the  committee  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  business. 


ORGANIC  LAWS.  355; 

ART.  6.  The  legislative  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  committee  of 
nine  persons,  to  be  elected  by  the  qualified  electors  at  the  annual  elec 
tion;  giving  to  each  district  a  representation  in  the  ratio  of  its  popula 
tion,  excluding  Indians ;  and  the  said  members  shall  reside  in  the  dis- 

5  "        O 

trict  for  which  they  shall  be  chosen. 

ART.  7.  The  judicial  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  Supreme  Court,  con 
sisting  of  the  supreme  judge  and  two  justices  of  the  peace ;  a  Probate 
Court  and  Justice  Court.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  Supreme  Court  shall  be 
both  appellate  and  original ;  that  of  the  Probate  Court  and  Justice  Court 
as  limited  by  law;  Provided,  That  individual  justices  of  the  peace  shall 
iiot  have  jurisdiction  of  any  matter  or  controversy  when  the  title  or 
boundaries  of  land  may  be  in  dispute,  or  when  the  sum  claimed  exceeds 
fifty  dollars. 

ART.  8.  There  shall  be  a  Recorder,  elected  by  the  qualified  electors  at 
the  annual  election,  who  shall  keep  a  faithful  record  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  Legislative  Committee,  Supreme  and  Probate  courts ;  also  record 
all  boundaries  of  land  presented  for  that  purpose,  and  brands  used  for 
marking  live  stock ;  procure  and  keep  a  record  of  the  same ;  and  also 
record  wills,  deeds,  and  other  instruments  of  writing  required  by  law 
to  be  recorded.  The  Recorder  shall  receive  the  following  fees,  viz. :  For 
recording  wills,  deeds.,  and  other  instruments  of  writing,  twelve  cents 
for  every  hundred  words;  and  for  every  weight  or  measure  sealed, 
twenty-five  cents.  For  granting  other  official  papers  and  the  seal, 
twenty-five  cents ;  for  services  as  clerk  of  the  Legislature,  the  same  daily 
pay  as  members  of  the  Legislature ;  and  for  all  other  services  required 
of  him  by  this  act,  the  same  fees  as  allowed  for  similar  services  by  the 
laws  of  Iowa. 

ART.  9.  There  shall  be  a  Treasurer,  elected  by  the  qualified  electors  of 
the  Territory,  who  shall,  before  entering  upon  the  duties  of  his  office, 
give  bonds  to  the  Executive  Committee  in  the  sum  of  fifteen  hundred 
dollars,  with  two  or  more  sufficient  sureties,  to  be  approved  by  the  Ex 
ecutive  Committee  of  the  Territory,  conditioned  for  the  faithful  discharge 
of  the  duty  of  his  office.  The  Treasurer  shall  receive  all  moneys  belong 
ing  to  the  Territory  that  may  be  raised  by  contribution,  or  otherwise, 
and  shall  procure  suitable  books  in  which  he  shall  enter  an  account  of 
his  receipts  and  disbursements. 

ART.  10.  The  Treasurer  shall  in  no  case  pay  money  out  of  the  Treasury 
but  according  to  law,  and  shall  annually  report  to  the  Legislative  Com 
mittee  a  true  account  of  his  receipts  and  disbursements,  with  necessary 
vouchers  for  the  same,  and  shall  deliver  to  his  successor  in  office  all 
books,  moneys,  accounts,  or  other  property  belonging  to  the  Territory, 
as  soon  as  his  successor  shall  become  qualified. 


356  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

ART.  11.  The  Treasurer  shall  receive  for  his  services  the  sura  of  five 
per  cent,  upon  all  moneys  received  and  paid  out  according  to  law,  and 
three  per  cent,  upon  all  money  in  the  Treasury  when  he  goes  out  of 
office,  and  two  per  cent,  upon  the  disbursement  of  money  in  the  Treasury 
when  he  comes  into  office. 

ART.  12.  The  laws  of  Iowa  Territory  shall  be  the  laws  of  this  Terri 
tory  in  military  and  criminal  cases,  where  not  otherwise  provided  for  • 
and  where  no  statute  of  Iowa  Territory  applies,  the  principle  of  common 
law  and  equity  shall  govern. 

AKT.  13.  The  law  of  Iowa  regulating  weights  and  measures  shall  be 
the  law  of  this  Territory ;  Provided,  The  Supreme  Court  shall  perform 
the  duties  required  of  the  commissioners,  and  the  recorder  shall  perform 
the  duties  of  the  clerk  of  the  county  commissioners,  as  prescribed  in 
said  laws  of  Iowa;  and  proved,  that  sixty  pounds  avoirdupois  shall  be 
the  standard  weight  of  a  bushel  of  wheat,  whether  the  same  be  more 
or  less  than  two  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  and  two-fifths  cubic 
inches. 

ART.  14.  The  laws  of  Iowa  respecting  wills  and  administrators  shall 
be  the  laws  of  this  Territory  in  all  cases  not  otherwise  provided  for. 

ART.  15.  The  laws  of  Iowa  respecting  vagrants  is  hereby  adopted  as 
far  as  adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  the  citizens  of  Oregon. 

ART.  1C.  The  Supreme  Court  shall  hold  two  sessions  annually,  upon 
the  third  Tuesdays  of  April  and  September,  the  first  session  to  be  held 
at  Champoeg  upon  the  third  Tuesday  of  September,  1843,  and  the  sec 
ond  session  at  Tualatin  Plains,  upon  the  third  Tuesday  of  April,  1844. 
At  the  sessions  of  the  Supreme  Court  the  judge  shall  preside,  assisted  by- 
two  justices ;  Provided,  That  no  justice  of  the  peace  shall  assist  in  try 
ing  any  case  that  has  been  brought  before  the  court  by  appeal  from  his 
judgment.  The  Supreme  Court  shall  have  original  jurisdiction  in  cases 
of  treason  and  felony,  or  breach  of  the  peace,  and  in  civil  cases  where 
the  sum  claimed  exceeds  fifty  dollars. 

ART.  17.  All  male  persons  of  the  age  of  sixteen  years  and  upward, 
and  all  females  of  the  age  of  fourteen  years  and  upward,  shall  have 
the  right  to  marry.  When  either  of  the  parties  shall  be  under  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  the  consent  of  the  parents,  or  guardians  of  such 
minors,  shall  be  necessary  to  the  validity  of  such  matrimonial  engage 
ment.  Every  ordained  minister  of  the  gospel,  of  any  religious  denomi 
nation,  the  supreme  judge,  and  all  justices  of  the  peace,  are  hereby 
authorized  to  solemnize  marriage  according  to  law,  to  have  the  same 
recorded,  and  pay  the  recorder's  fee.  The  legal  fee  for  marriage  shall 
be  one  dollar ;  and  for  recording,  fifty  cents. 

ART.  18.  All  offices  subsequently  made  shall  be  filled  by  election  and 


DISTRICTS  IN  OREGON.  357 

ballot  in  the  several  districts  upon  the  day  appointed  by  law,  and  under 
such  regulations  as  the  laws  of  Iowa  provide. 

1.  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  draw  up  a 
digest  of  the  doings  of  this  Territory  with  regard  to  an  organization, 
and  transmit  the  same  to  the  United  States  government  for  their  in 
formation. 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  laws  of  Iowa — as  laid  down  in  the  "  Statute  Laws 
of  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  enacted  at  the  first  session  of  the  Legislative 
Assembly  of  said  Territory,  held  at  Burlington,  A.  D.  1838-9,  published 
by  authority  in  Dubuque,  Russell  &  Reeves,  printers,  1839;"  certified 
to  be  a  "  correct  copy,"  by  William  B.  Conway,  secretary  of  Iowa  Terri 
tory — be  adopted  as  the  laws  of  this  Territory. 

The  Legislative  Committee  recommend  that  the  Territory  be  divided 
into  four  districts,  as  follows : — 

First  District,  to  be  called  the  Tualatin  District,  comprising  all  the 
country  soutii  of  the  northern  boundary  line  of  the  United  States,  west 
of  the  Wallamet  or  Multnomah  River,  north  of  the  Yamhill  River,  and 
east  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Second  District,  to  be  called  the  Yamhill  District,  embracing  all  the 
country  west  of  the  Wallamet  or  Multnomah  River,  and  a  supposed  line 
running  north  and  south  from  said  river,  south  of  the  Yamhill  River,  to 
the  parallel  of  forty-two  degrees  north  latitude,  or  the  boundary  line 
of  the  United  States  and  California,  and  east  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Third  District,  to  be  called  the  Clackamas  District,  comprehending 
all  territory  not  included  in  the  other  three  districts. 

Fourth  District,  to  be  called  the  Cliampoeg  District,  and  bounded  on 
the  north  by  a  supposed  line  drawn  from  the  mouth  of  the  Haunchauke 
River,  running  due  east  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  west  by  the  Wallamet 
or  Multnomah  River,  and  a  supposed  line  running  due  south  from  said 
liver  to  the  parallel  of  forty-two  degrees  north  latitude,  south  by  the 
boundary  line  of  the  United  States  and  California,  and  east  by  the 
summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  Legislative  Committee  also  recommend  the  above  districts  to  be 
designated  by  the  name  of  "  Oregon  Territory." 

The  Legislative  Committee  recommend  that  a  subscription  paper  be 
put  in  circulation  to  collect  funds  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  the 
government,  as  follows :  We,  the  subscribers,  hereby  pledge  ourselves 
to  pay  annually  to  the  treasurer  of  Oregon  Territory  the  sum  affixed 
to  our  respective  names,  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  government; 
Provided,  That  in  all  cases  each  individual  subscriber  may,  at  any  time, 


358  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

withdraw  his  name  from  said  subscription  upon  paying  up  all  arrearages, 
and  notifying  the  treasurer  of  the  colony  of  such  desire  to  withdraw. 

Militia  Law. 

ARTICLE  1.  The  militia  of  this  Territory  shall  be  arranged  into  one 
battalion,  consisting  of  three  or  more  companies  of  mounted  riflemen. 

ART.  2.  That  in  case  of  the  vacancy  of  the  office  of  major  by  death 
or  otherwise,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Executive  Committee  to  appoint 
another  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  serve  in  the  place  of  such  removed 
officer,  until  the  annual  election. 

ART.  3.  That  when  a  portion  of  country  is  so  distanty  or  so  situated, 
that  in  the  opinion  of  the  Executive  Committee  it  would  be  inconvenient 
for  persons  residing  therein  to  belong  to  an  organized  company,  they 
shall  be  organized  as  a  separate  company  under  the  command  of  a  cap 
tain  appointed  by  themselves,  and  give  due  notice  to  the  major  of  the 
battalion,  and  be  subject  to  the  same  laws  and  regulations  as  the  other 
companies  of  the  battalion. 

ART.  4.  That  all  companies  shall  meet  once  in  each  year  for  company 
inspection  upon  the  last  Tuesday  in  September,  well  mounted,  with  a 
good  rifle,  or  musket,  and  accouterments  for  company  inspection  and 
military  exercise. 

ART.  5.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  major  to  notify  each  captain  of  a 
company  to  notify  each  member  of  his  company  of  the  day  and  place 
of  each  annual  meeting  of  his  battalion  and  company  at  least  six  days 
previous  to  such  time  of  meeting. 

ART.  6.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  each  and  every  male  inhabitant,  over 
the  age  of  sixteen  years  and  under  sixty,  that  wishes  to  be  considered  a 
citizen,  to  cause  himself  to  be  enrolled,  by  giving  his  name  to  the  proper 
officers  of  the  militia,  and  serve  under  the  same,  except  such  as  are  here 
after  excepted. 

Art.  7.  That  fines  shall  be  laid  upon  all  who  fail  to  adhere  to  the 
commands  of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  the  same  shall  be  expended 
for  ammunition  and  arms,  without  delay,  and  persons  appointed  to 
take  charge  of  the  magazine  wherever  the  Executive  Committee  shall 
direct  its  location. 

ART.  8.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Executive  Committee  to  appoint  a 
surgeon  to  the  battalion,  who  shall  serve  in  his  profession  when  so  or 
dered  by  the  Executive  Committee. 

ART.  9.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  any  commissioned  officer  in  case  of  in 
vasion,  or  insurrection,  to  order  out  the  militia  under  his  command, 
provided  he  has  sufficient  reason  for  so  doing,  and  give  immediate  notice 
thereof  to  the  Executive  Committee. 


LAND   LAW.  359 

ART.  10.  The  militia  of  this  Territory  shall,  with  the  advice  and  con 
sent  of  the  Executive  Committee,  be  subject  to  the  call  of  the  authorized 
agents  of  the  United  States  government  until  she  may  send  troops  to 
support  the  same. 

Land  Claims. 

ARTICLE  1.  Any  person  how  holding  or  hereafter  wishing  to  establish 
a  claim  to  land  in  this  Territory,  shall  designate  the  extent  of  his  claim 
by  natural  boundaries,  or  by  marks  at  the  corners  and  upon  the  lines 
of  said  claim,  recorded  in  the  office  of  the  Territorial  recorder,  in  a 
book  to  be  kept  by  him  for  that  purpose,  within  twenty  days  from  the 
time  of  making  said  claim  ;  Provided,  That  those  who  shall  be  already 
in  possession  of  land  shall  be  allowed  one  year  from  the  passage  of  this 
act,  to  file  a  description  of  their  claims  in  the  recorder's  office. 

ART.  2.  All  claimants  shall,  within  six  months  from  the  time  of 
recording  their  claims,  make  permanent  improvements  upon  the  same, 
by  building  or  inclosing,  and  also  'become  occupant  upon  said  claims 
within  one  year  of  the  date  of  such  record. 

ART.  3.  No  individual  shall  be  allowed  to  hold  a  claim  of  more  than 
one  square  mile,  or  640  acres,  in  a  square  or  oblong  form,  according  to 
the  natural  situation  of  the  premises,  nor  shall  any  individual  be  able 
to  hold  more  than  one  claim  at  the  same  time.  Any  person  complying 
with  the  provisions  of  these  ordinances  shall  be  entitled  to  the  same 
process  against  trespass  as  in  other  cases  provided  by  law. 

ART.  4.  No  person  shall  be  entitled  to  hold  such  a  claim  upon  city 
or  town  lots,  extensive  water  privileges,  or  other  situations  necessary 
for  the  transaction  of  mercantile  or  manufacturing  operations  ;  Provi 
ded,  That  nothing  in  these  laws  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  aifect  any 
claim  of  any  mission  of  a  religious  character  made  prior  to  this  time, 
of  extent  not  more  than  six  miles  square. 

Approved  by  the  people,  as  per  minutes,  Wallamet,  July  5,  1843. 

A  true  copy  from  original  papers.     Attest 

GEORGE  W.  LE  BRETON, 

Recorder. 
Certificate. 

This  certifies  that  David  Hill,  Alanson  Beers,  and  Joseph  Gale  were 
chosen  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Territory  of  Oregon,  by  the 
people  of  said  Territory,  and  have  taken  the  oath  for  the  faithful  per. 
formance  of  the  duties  of  their  office  as  required  by  law. 

GEORGE  W.  LE  BRETON, 

Recorder. 
WALLAMET,  OREGON  TERRITORY,  July  5,  1843. 


CHAPTER  XL VI. 

Description  of  the  State  House. — Conduct  of  the  French  settlers. — Arrival  of  Dr.  Whit 
man's  party  of  immigrants. — Prosperity  of  the  settlers. — Change  in  the  policy  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. — Their  exorbitant  claims. 

A  PRIMITIVE  State  House  was  built  with  posts  set  upright,  one  end 
in  the  ground,  grooved  on  two  sides,  and  filled  in  with  poles  and  split 
timber,  such  as  would  be  suitable  for  fence  rails ;  with  plates  and  poles 
across  the  top.  Rafters  and  horizontal  poles  held  the  cedar  bark, 
which  was  used  instead  of  shingles  for  covering.  It  was  twenty  by 
forty  feet.  At  one  end,  some  puncheons  were  put  up  for  a  platform  for 
the  president ;  some  poles  and  slabs  were  placed  around  for  seats  ;  three 
planks  one  foot  wide  and  about  twelve  feet  long,  placed  upon  a  sort  of 
stake  platform  for  a  table,  for  the  use  of  the  Legislative  Committee  and 
the  clerks. 

Perfect  order  and  decorum  prevailed  throughout  the  proceedings. 
The  bolder  and  more  independent  portion  of  the  French  settlers  parti 
cipated  in  this  convention,  and  expressed  themselves  pleased  with  the 
result.  They  looked  to  this  organization  to  relieve  them  from  British 
tyranny ;  while  by  far  the  greater  number  of  them  kept  aloof  and 
refused  to  have  any  thing  to  do  with,  or  to  submit  to,  the  organization. 

This  arose  from  the  advice  they  had  received  from  the  company,  and 
the  instructions  of  the  priests  who  were  among  them,  as  in  the  case  of 
Dr.  White's  effort  to  get  a  few  of  them  to  go  with  him  to  the  interior, 
on  the  report  of  threatened  Indian  difficulties.  The  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  as  indicated  in  a  communication  to  the  Executive  Committee, 
felt  themselves  abundantly  able  to  defend  themselves  and  their  political 
rights. 

This  year,  through  the  influence  and  representations  by  letters,  re 
ports,  and  the  personal  efforts  of  that  devoted  friend  to  Oregon,  Dr. 
Marcus  Whitman,  an  immigration  of  eight  hundred  and  seventy-five 
persons  arrived  in  the  fall,  notwithstanding  that  deceitful  servant  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  Grant,  at  Fort  Hall,  did  all  he  could, 
under  the  instructions  of  the  company,  to  induce  as  many  as  possible  to 
go  to  California,  by  telling  them  all  the  frightful  stories  he  and  his  men 
could  invent,  of  their  danger,  and  the  difficulties  they  must  encounter 
in  getting  through  to  the  settlement  on  the  Wallamet.  This  company 


IMMIGRATION  OF  1843.  361 

brought  with  them  thirteen  hundred  head  of  cattle.  The  immigration 
of  1842  amounted  to  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  men,  women,  and 
children,  a  limited  supply  of  cattle,  and  a  number  of  wagons  to  Fort 
Hall,  where  they  were  induced  to  abandon  most  of  them,  through  the 
false  statements  of  the  man  in  charge. 

The  immigration  of  1843,  under  the  guidance  of  Dr.  Whitman, 
brought  most  of  their  wagons,  teams,  and  cattle  through  all  safe.  They 
opened  the  road  to  the  Columbia,  and  the  trail  through  the  Cascade 
Mountains,  which  was  only  an  obscure  Indian  trail  quite  difficult  to 
pass  in  1842,  on  account  of  brush,  logs,  and  fallen  timber. 

Our  population,  all  told,  now  amounted  to  not  far  from  twelve  hun 
dred.  Among  the  immigrants  of  1842  and  '43  there  were  many  excel 
lent  families,  and  intelligent,  industrious,  noble-hearted  young  men ;' 
with  a  full  proportion  of  miserable  scoundrels.  Most  of  the  families 
soon  found  locations,  and  having  some  little  means,  with  the  assistance 
they  could  obtain  from  the  Methodist  Mission,  and  such  as  was  brought 
by  Captain  Couch  in  the  brig  Maryland,  and  the  barks  Lausanne  and 
Toulon,  by  Captain  Crosby,  sent  by  Mr.  Cushing  of  Newburyport,  soon 
commenced  permanent  improvements.  The  winter  was  mild  and  the 
larger  portion  of  them  were  prosperous  and  happy  in  their  new  homes. 

The  provisional  government  was  formed  and  put  in  operation  in 
July  previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  large  immigration  of  1843.  Supplies 
of  flour,  sugar,  and  tea  had  been  sent  from  the  settlement  to  meet  such 
as  might  be  in  want  on  their  way  into  the  Wallamet  Valley. 

From  the  time  it  was  known  that  Dr.  Whitman  had  safely  arrived  in 
Washington,  and  the  boundary  line  was  not  settled,  the  whole  policy 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  changed.  Advances  of  outfits  were 
made  to  such  men  as  Hastings  and  his  party,  Burnett,  and  other 
prominent  men.  Employment  was  given  to  a  select  few,  and  every 
encouragement  and  inducement  held  out  to  assist  as  many  as  could  be 
prevailed  upon  to  go  to  California;  while  those  who  contemplated 
making  Oregon  a  permanent  home  were  denied  supplies  or  employ 
ment,  especially  those  who  had  asked  the  protection  of  the  American 
government.  Those  who  proposed  going  to  California  could  readily 
get  all  the  supplies  they  required  of  the  company  by  giving  their  notes 
payable  in  California. 

It  was  well  understood  by  most  of  them  when  they  gave  their  notes 
that  they  never  expected  to  pay  them.  Two  of  them  informed  us  that 
they  did  not  intend  to  pay  if  they  went  out  of  the  country,  as  they  un 
derstood  it  as  equivalent  to  hiring,  or  giving  them  their  outfit  to  induce 
them  to  leave. 

This  last  remark  applies  particularly  to  the  immigration  of  1842,  and 


362  HISTOPwY  OF  OREGON. 

the  company  that  went  to  California  with  Mr.  Hastings  in  the  spring 
of  1843.  This  policy  continued  up  to  1847-8,  when  the  company  found 
themselves,  as  they  supposed,  through  the  influence  of  their  Jesuit  mis 
sions  and  Indian  allies,  prepared  to  fully  maintain  their  licensed  mer 
cantile  privileges,  but  found  themselves  confronted  by  an  army  of  five 
hundred  brave  and  determined  men,  and  an  organization  sufficiently 
strong  and  united  to  compel  them  to  again  change  their  policy,  though 
not  their  secret  hatred  of  what  they  termed  American  intrusion  upon 
their  imaginary  rights  in  the  country.  In  the  seventeenth  page  of  their 
memorial,  they  assert,  "And  they  had  therein  and  thereupon  a  right  of 
trade  which  was  virtually  exclusive.  *  *  *  And  such  right  of  trade, 
and  the  control,  possession,  and  use  of  said  Territory,  for  the  purposes 
thereof,  independent  of  their  foreign  commerce  and  the  sale  of  timber, 
exceeding  in  total  value  the  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand  pounds 
sterling  ($973,333.33)."  This  statement  is  made  in  behalf  of  that 
company  as  their  profits  in  trade  before  and  up  to  1846,  which,  together 
with  the  declaration  of  Dr.  McLaughlin  and  Mr.  Douglas,  as  found  in 
chapter  fifty-four,  addressed  to  our  Executive  Committee  under  date 
March  11  and  12,  1845,  is  sufficient  to  indicate  the  true  policy  of  the 
company,  which  will  be  more  fully  developed  as  we  proceed. 


CHAPTER  XL VII. 

Actions  speak  louder  than  words. — Efforts  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  discourage 
immigration. — Account  of  the  two  Jesuits,  F.  N.  Blanchet  and  P.  J.  De  Smet. — 
Protestant  missionaries  discouraged. — Important  position  of  the  Kev.  G.  Hines. — 
Recall  of  the  Rev.  Jason  Lee. — Efforts  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  prevent 
emigration  to  the  Territory. — Statement  of  General  Palmer. — Indian  combinations. 
— The  Donner  party. — Mr.  McBean's  character. — Extent  of  Oregon  at  this  time. 

REACHING  thoughts  by  actions.  This  the  historian  of  the  times  has 
a  right  to  do ;  and  by  comparing  the  act  and  result,  he  can  arrive  with 
almost  mathematical  certainty  as  to  what  the  thought  was  that  origin 
ated  the  act,  and  produced  the  result.  But  we  are  not  confined  to  this 
mode  of  reasoning.  We  have  their  own,  and  the  statements  of  those 
favorable  to  them,  to  substantiate  our  conclusions. 

1st.  The  inadvertent  statement  of  F.  Ermatinger,  one  of  their  chief 
traders,  in  1838,  that  in  case  the  American  government  attempted  to 
take  this  country,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  would  arm  their  eight 
hundred  half-breeds,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  Indians,  drive  back  any 
force  that  could  be  sent  across  the  continent  to  take  it.  Their  navy  could 
defend  the  coast.  The  Jesuits  could  influence  the  Indians. 

2d.  The  arrangements  made  to  bring  to  the  country  the  Red  River 
immigrants  in  1842. 

3d.  The  stationing  of  a  ship  of  war  at  Vancouver  to  protect  the 
company. 

4th.  The  building  of  bastions  at  Fort  Vancouver,  and  strengthening 
that  post  in  1 845-6. 

5th.  The  refusal  of  Mr.  Douglas  to  furnish  supplies  to  the  provisional 
troops,  sent  to  punish  the  parties  engaged  in  the  Wailatpu  massacre. 

6th.  The  supplying  of  Indians,  by  Mr.  Ogden,  with  a  large  amount 
of  war  material,  and  his  avowal  not  to  have  any  thing  to  do  with 
American  difficulties. 

7th.  The  letters  and  correspondence  of  Sir  James  Douglas. 

8th.  The  positive  statements  of  William  McBean. 

9th.  The  statements  of  Vicar-General  Brouillet. 

10th.  The  correspondence  and  letters  of  Bishop  Blanchet. 

llth.  The  testimony  they  have  produced  in  support  of  their  claims. 

12th.  The  designs  of  the  British  government  as  indicated  by  James 
Edward  Fitzgerald. 


364:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

13th.  The  sending  of  American  immigrants  from  Fort  Hall  and 
Oregon  to  California. 

O 

14th.  The  attempt  to  supply  the  Indians  in  the  interior,  by  the  aid 
of  Romish  priests,  with  a  large  amount  of  ammunition. 

15th.  The  implacable  hatred  implanted  in  the  mind  of  the  Indian 
against  Americans,  through  the  influence  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  and  the  Jesuit  missionaries  brought  to  the  country  for  that 
purpose. 

16th.  The  strict  rules  of  the  company,  and  the  continued  effort  to 
enforce  those  rules  to  the  destruction  of  life  and  property. 

We  now  come  to  the  thoughts  which  originated  and  caused  the  fore 
going  acts. 

These  American  missionaries  have  done  more  to  defeat  us,  to  settle 
the  country,  and  defer  the  establishment  of  the  boundary  line,  than  all 
other  efforts  and  causes  combined.  We  must  make  another  effort  to 
destroy  their  influence,  and  drive  them  and  their  settlements  from  the 
country ;  and  thus  secure  it  to  the  British  crown,  for  the  use  of  the 
company,  at  the  risk  of  a  war  between  the  two  countries. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Messrs.  Lee,  Parker,  Whitman,  Spalding, 
Gray,  and  other  missionaries,  had  their  passports  from  the  Secretary 
of  War  of  the  United  States,  giving  them  permission  to  travel  through, 
and  settle  as  teachers  in,  the  Indian  country;  and  that  all  military 
officers  and  agents  of  the  government  were  instructed  to  facilitate  their 
efforts,  and,  if  at  any  time  it  was  necessary,  afford  them  protection. 
These  passports  had  been  duly  presented  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  at  Vancouver,  and  had  the  effect  to  prevent  a  direct  effort  to 
destroy  or  drive  them  from  the  country,  as  they  had  done  to  all  who 
preceded  them. 

Hence,  an  extra  effort  must  be  made  to  get  rid  of  this  American 
missionary  influence,  and  the  settlements  they  were  gathering  around 
them. 

We  will  now  proceed,  to  give  historical  facts  as  connected  with 
results. 

Two  intelligent,  jovial,  yet  bigoted  priests  had  been  brought  to  the 
country  by  the  company.  They  had  traveled  all  through  it,  and  had 
actually  discovered  the  pure  silver  and  golden  ores  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  carried  specimens  to  St.  Louis  and  to  Europe.  These 
priests  fully  understood  the  licensed  rights  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany,  and  the  efforts  they  were  making  to  secure  it  to  the  British 
crown.  They  were  also  assured  that,  in  case  the  American  Protestant 
influence  could  be  driven  from  it,  the  Papal  would  become  the  prevailing 
religion,  as  in  California  and  Mexico.  They  knew  that  the  English 


EFFORTS  TO  DESTROY   MISSIONS.  365 

Episcopal  effort  was  an  early  and  utter  failure,  and  that  no  renewed 
effort  would  be  made  in  their  behalf  by  the  company,  and  that  they 
were  then  using  their  influence  to  drive  the  Wesleyan  missionaries 
from  Moose  Factory.  Hence,  they  and  their  associates  entered  upon 
their  work  with  a  zeal  and  energy  only  equaled  by  him  who  was  their 
first  victim. 

F.  N.  Blanchet  visited  Canada,  New  York,  and  Rome,  and  was  made 
Bishop  of  Oregon.  His  associate,  P.  J.  De  Smet,  gathered  his  priests 
and  nuns,  returned  to  the  country,  and  entered  vigorously  upon  their 
missionary  work,  having  the  substantial  aid  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  and  the  personal  assistance  of  its  members.  Their  churches, 
nunneries,  and  schools  sprung  up  as  if  by  magic  in  French  Prairie, 
Oregon  City,  Vancouver,  the  Dalles,  Umatilla,  Pen  d'Oreille,  Colville, 
and  St.  Marie.  The  Protestant  missions  in  the  country  were  greatly 
annoyed  by  the  unreasonable  and  threatening  conduct  of  the  Indians 
about  their  stations.  They  were  demanding  unreasonable  pay  for  the 
lands  upon  which  the  stations  were  located,  and  paying  but  little  or 
no  attention  to  their  American  teachers.  The  American  missionaries 
were  becoming  disheartened  and  discouraged,  and  were  beginning  to 
abandon  their  stations.  Rev.  A.  B.  Smith,  of  the  Nez  Perce  mission, 
Dr.  Richmond,  from  Nasqualla,  Rev.  Messrs.  Kone  and  Frost,  from 
Clatsop,  and  Mr.  Edwards  had  left  the  country.  Rev.  Daniel  Lee, 
Rev.  H.  K.  W.  Perkins,  Mr.  Brewer,  and  Dr.  Babcock,  had  all  become 
dissatisfied,  and  thought  they  had  found  a  plausible  excuse  for  leaving. 
A  simple  statement  of  a  man  in  the  employ  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  had  more  influence  with  them  than  their  missionary  vows  and 
obligations  to  the  churches  that  sent  them  out. 

They  were  not  satisfied  with  leaving  themselves,  but  made  charges 
against  the  purest  and  best  man  of  their  number,  simply  because  that, 
while  he  was  absent  from  Oregon  in  1838-9,  influences  were  brought 
into  the  country  by  the  company,  with  the  intent  to  defeat  them,  and 
destroy  all  Protestant  missions, — applying  the  same  policy  to  destroy 
the  harmony  and  usefulness  of  the  American  missions,  that  they 
had  used  to  destroy  the  power  and  influence  of  the  Indian  tribes ; 
which  was  to  divide  them  up  into  factions,  and  get  them  to  quar 
reling  among  themselves,  as  in  the  case  of  Rev.  J.  S.  Griffin  and  party. 
This  would  destroy  their  influence,  and  help  to  break  up  their  set 
tlements. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Hines,  with  all  his  wisdom,  sound  judgment,  and 
experience,  became,  unwittingly,  an  important  instrument  and  apolo 
gist  in  this  deep-laid  scheme  to  rid  the  country  of  Protestant  mission 
aries  and  American  settlements.  He  was  led  to  join  his  influence 


366  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

against  his  truest  and  best  friend,  who  is  called  home  and  superseded, 
and  the  mission  stations  abandoned  and  broken  up. 

Mr.  Hines,  on  pages  236-7  of  his  book,  says :  "  With  regard  to  the 
objections  against  Mr.  Lee,  arising  from  his  not  furnishing  the  Board 
with  the  desirable  report  concerning  the  disbursement  of  the  large 
appropriations,  it  should  be  observed  that  no  such  charge  of  delin 
quency  appears  against  him,  up  to  the  time  of  the  appointment  of  the 
great  re-enforcement."  Dr.  White  was  known  to  be  a  bitter  enemy  of 
Rev.  Jason  Lee,  and  a  willing  tool  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 
Mr.  Hines,  as  his  book,  and  the  letters  he  wrote  to  Dr.  White  and  the 
Indian  Department  at  Washington,  show,  was  favorable  to  the  pro 
ceedings  and  policy  of  Dr.  White  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

We  understand,  through  Rev.  Mr.  Geary,  that  Mr.  Hines  attributed 
to  Mr.  Lee's  advice  expenditures  for  buildings  that  were  the  pet  objects 
of  Mr.  Hines  himself;  and  thus  Rev.  J.  Lee,  to  gratify  the  wish  of 
others,  yielded  his  own  convictions  of  right,  and  in  this  way  became 
an  object  of  censure,  which  was  the  cause  of  his  removal.  The 
"  changes  inconceivably  great  with  respect  to  the  Indians  of  Oregon," 
which,  Rev.  Mr.  Hines  says  "  took  place  betwixt  the  time  the  great 
re-enforcement  was  called  for,  and  the  time  of  their  arrival  in  the 
Columbia  River,"  were  brought  to  bear,  and  had  their  influence  and 
effect,  upon  him,  in  his  Umpqua  missionary  trip,  in  his  trip  to  the 
interior,  in  his  representations  to  his  Missionary  Board,  in  his  opposi 
tion  to  the  provisional  government,  and  had  their  influence  upon  his 
missionary  brethren.  These  men,  Mr.  Hines  included,  instead  of 
studying  the  true  interests  of  the  country, — their  obvious  duty  to  the 
churches  that  sent  them  out,  and  the  cause  they  represented, — were 
flattered  and  cajoled  by  the  artful  members  of  a  foreign  monopoly,  and 
made  to  believe  they  had  talents  superior  to  the  field  in  which  they 
were  placed  by  the  influence  and  advice  of  the  superintendent,  Mr. 
Lee,  forgetting  the  changes  above  intimated,  and  having  no  suspicions 
that  a  secret  foreign  influence  was  working  to  bring  about  the  utter 
failure  of  their  Indian  missions ;  nor  supposing  that  the  brightest  and 
best  talents  would  secure  the  most  attention,  and  the  surest  effort  to 
render  them  dissatisfied. 

The  whole  statement  about  Mr.  Lee's  recall,  and  the  reasons  assigned, 
appear  to  us  to  be  unjust  (though,  perhaps,  not  intended)  to  the  char 
acter  of  Mr.  Lee.  It  was  after  the  great  re-enforcement  spoken  of,  that 
the  large  expenditures  referred  to  were  made;  hence,  Mr.  Hines' 
excuse  confirms  the  charge,  and  he  only  attempts  to  change  the 
responsibility  to  another ;  while  Mr.  Lee,  like  Dr.  McLaughlin,  is  suf 
fered  to  fall  by  the  influence  of  his  professed  friends. 


GENERAL  PALMER'S   STATEMENT.  367 

The  Jesuit  priests,  co-laborers  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
did  not  hesitate  to  poison  the  minds  of  all  who  would  listen  to  them 
against  the  Protestant  missionaries  and  all  their  efforts ;  neither  did 
they  hesitate  as  to  the  means,  so  long  as  a  certain  object  was  to  be 
accomplished.  Le  Breton,  Lee,  and  Whitman  must  fall  by  their 
influence.  The  character  of  others  must  suffer  by.  their  malicious 
slanders  and  false  statements.  See  Brouillet,  pages  20  and  21,  in  which 
lie  attempts  to  show  that  Dr.  Whitman  and  others  were  in  the  habit 
of  poisoning  melons  to  prevent  the  Indians  from  stealing  them,  while 
the  fact  is,  the  Doctor  encouraged  the  Indians  to  come  and  get  mel 
ons  to  eat  freely,  in  order  to  induce  them  to  cultivate  for  themselves  ; 
and  we  are  certain  that  no  one  at  the  station  at  that  time  thought  of 
putting  poison  into  melons. 

As  we  said,  we  are  reading  thoughts  by  words  and  acts,  so  as  to 
arrive  at  a  correct  conclusion  as  to  the  thought  that  caused  the  act. 

The  American  missionaries  and  settlements  must  be  driven  from  the 
country.  To  do  this,  the  Indians  that  have  heretofore  been  kept  at 
war  among  themselves,  must  now  be  united.  Some  changes  must  be 
made ;  Grant,  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  must  occupy  Fort  Hall, 
and  do  all  he  can  to  turn  immigrants  to  California,  and  rob  such  as  per 
sist  in  coming'  to  Oregon. 

General  Palmer  says  in  his  journal,  page  43  :  "  While  we  remained 
at  this  place  (Fort  Hall)  great  efforts  were  made  to  induce  the  immigra 
tion  to  pursue  the  route  to  California.  The  most  extravagant  tales 
were  related  respecting  the  dangers  awaiting  a  trip  to  Oregon,  and 
the  difficulties  and  trials  to  be  surmounted.  The  perils  of  the  way 
were  so  magnified  as  to  make  us  suppose  the  journey  to  Oregon  almost 
impossible.  For  instance,  the  two  crossings  of  Snake  River,  and  the 
crossings  of  the  Columbia  and  other  smaller  streams,  were  represented 
as  being  attended  with  great  danger.  Also,  that  no  company  hereto 
fore  attempting  the  passage  of  these  streams,  succeeded  but  with  the 
loss  of  men,  from  the  violence  and  rapidity  of  the  currents,  as  also  that 
they  had  never  succeeded  in  getting  more  than  fifteen  or  twenty  head 
of  cattle  into  the  Wallamet  Valley. 

"  In  addition  to  the  above,  it  was  asserted  that  three  or  four  tribes 
of  Indians  in  the  middle  regions  had  combined  for  the  purpose  of 
preventing  our  passage  through  their  country.  In  case  we  escaped 
destruction  at  the  hands  of  the  savages,  that  a  more  fearful  enemy — 
famine — would  attend  our  march,  as  the  distance  was  so  great  that 
winter  would  overtake  us  before  making  the  Cascade  Mountains.  On 
the  other  hand,  as  an  inducement  to  pursue  the  California  route,  we 
were  informed  of  the  shortness  of  the  route  when  compared  with 


368  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

that  to  Oregon,  as  also  of  the  many  other  superior  advantages  it  pos 
sessed." 

It  is  not  our  intention  to  go  into  the  history  of  California,  but  give 
what  strictly  relates  to  Oregon  and  her  people  in  those  early  times. 
In  the  paragraph  we  have  quoted  from  General  Palmer's  journal,  the 
reader  will  see  a  fiendish,  a  damning  policy;  and  if  our  language 
has  any  severer  terms  to  express  evil  motives  and  intentions,  let  him 
use  them,  as  belonging  to  the  course  pursued  by  that  organization 
yclept  Honorable  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  in  attempting  to  prevent 
the  settlement  of  Oregon,  and  sending  whole  families  to  starve  and 
perish,  and  become  cannibals  in  the  mountains  of  California,  rather 
than  tell  the  truth,  and  aid  them  in  getting  to  Oregon ;  as  will  be  seen 
by  the  following  extract  from  the  Gold  Hill  (Nevada)  JVews,  concern 
ing  the  horrible  sufferings  of  "  The  Donner  Party  :" — 

"The  world  perhaps  never  produced  a  sadder  and  a  truer  story, 
nor  one  which  will  be  so  long  remembered  by  many  whose  fortunes 
were  cast  on  the  Pacific  slope  in  the  early  days  of  its  settlement  by 
the  Americans.  We  personally  knew  one  of  the  families  that  perished 
among  the  Donner  party,  and  on  reading  the  interesting  letter  in  the 
Union  it  awakened  in  our  memory  a  little  incident  in  connection  with 
this  sad  calamity,  which  happened  in  the  State  of  Illinois  twenty  years 
ago  last  April.  At  that  time  we  were  publisher  of  a  newspaper  in 
Putnam  County,  Illinois.  Oregon  and  California  were  beginning  to 
attract  the  attention  of  the  Western  people ;  and  in  the  spring  of  1846 
a  party  of  about  fifty  persons,  farmers  with  their  families,  and  young 
men,  was  made  up  in  that  county  destined  for  Oregon.  When  the  day 
of  departure  arrived,  the  whole  party  assembled  in  a  village  called 
Magnolia  to  agree  upon  camp  regulations,  appointment  of  officers,  etc. 
As  a  journalist,  we  attended  that  meeting  and  published  a  full  account 
of  its  proceedings.  Among  the  party  was  "  Uncle  Billy  Graves  "  and 
his  family,  consisting  of  father,  mother,  two  daughters,  and  a  son,  the 
ages  of  the  children  ranging  from  fifteen  to  twenty  years.  Uncle 
Billy  Graves  was  a  well-to-do  farmer,  with  every  thing  comfortable 
about  him  ;  and,  having  already  reached  the  age  of  threescore,  it  was 
a  matter  of  surprise  to  many  that  he  should  sell  his  farm  and  start  off 
to  make  a  new  home  in  such  a  far-off  and  wild  country  as  Oregon  then 
was.  But  the  country  in  Illinois  was  getting  too  thickly  settled  for 
the  old  man,  and  he  longed  for  the  wild  adventures  of  the  far  west.  lie 
pleaded  and  persuaded  us  to  go  with  him,  and  to  bring  our  office  along, 
as  Oregon  would  some  day  be  a  great  country,  and  we  would  have  the 
credit  of  having  been  the  first  to  publish  a  newspaper  in  it.  But  cir 
cumstances  over  which  we  had  no  control  prevented  us,  although  we 


THE   CONNER   PARTY.  3(59 

certainly  had  the  will  and  the  wish  just  as  Uncle  Billy  Graves  advised. 
We  remained  in  Illinois,  and  the  Graves  family  joined  with  the  overland 
party  for  Oregon.  Letters  written  by  the  party  during  the  summer 
were  published  in  our  paper.  The  last  one  written  by  any  of  the 
Graves  family  was  dated  at  Fort  Laramie,  and  this  was  the  last  heard 
of  the  old  farmer.  He  joined  the  Dormer  party,  which  separated  from 
the  emigration  to  Oregon  at  Fort  Hall,  near  the  headwaters  of  the 
Columbia,  and  wending  his  way  westward  toward  California,  before 
its  gold-fields  were  known  in  the  world,  he  perished  in  the  mountains, 
and  his  good  old  wife  perished  with  him.  The  son  and  daughters  of 
the  Graves  family  were  among  the  persons  who  were  rescued  by  the 
relief  party  of  sailors  and  others  who  were  sent  out  by  the  benevolent 
Americans  at  Slitter's  Fort  and  San  Francisco.  A  long  letter  written 
by  one  of  the  Graves  girls  was  published  in  our  paper  in  the  year  1847, 
and  which  contained  a  full  and  sad  account  of  the  awful  sufferings  of 
the  party.  We  shall  never  forget  the  manuscript  of  the  letter.  It 
was  blotted  all  over  with  the  tears  which  the  poor  girl  shed  while 
describing  the  sufferings  of  her  famishing  parents,  their  death,  and  the 
flesh  of  their  dead  bodies  furnishing  food  for  their  starving  children! 
Horrible  !  horrible  !  Let  the  bleached  bones  and  skulls  of  the  Donner 
party  be  gathered  together  and  decently  buried,  for  they  once  belonged 
to  good  Christian  people." 

The  Indians  also  have  become  deeply  interested  in  their  schemes  to 
prevent  the  settlement  of  the  country. 

We  are  told  by  Mr.  Hines,  on  page  143,  that  they  sent  one  of  their 
chiefs  on  snow-shoes,  in  the  winter  of  1842-3,  to  excite  or  induce 
the  Buffalo  Indians  to  join  them  to  cut  off  the  immigrants  that  were 
expected  to  come  to  the  country  with  Dr.  Whitman. 

Mr.  McKinley,  a  professedly  warm  friend  of  Dr.  Whitman,  was 
removed  from  having  charge  of  Fort  Nez  Perces,  and  William  McBean, 
who  (Mr.  Roberts,  an  old  clerk  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  says) 

"  is  one  of  the  d dest  scoundrels  that  ever  lived,"  put  in  his  place. 

The  reader  will  not  forget  that  we  are  speaking  of  events  and  move 
ments  in  a  country  where  an  Indian  in  a  canoe  or  on  horseback  or 
snow-shoes  was  our  swiftest  messenger,  and  that  its  boundaries  included 
what  is  now  the  State  of  Oregon,  the  Territories  of  Washington,  Idaho, 
and  Montana,  besides  Vancouver  Island  and  British  Columbia. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  a  powerful  and  unscrupulous  mon 
opoly,  and  the  only  representative  of  a  vast  empire  on  this  western  part 
of  our  continent.  To  possess  the  whole,  or  a  valuable  part  of  it,  was  an 
object  worth  using  the  influence  they  had  spent  years  of  labor  and 
thousands  (not  millions,  as  they  claim)  of  dollars  to  secure. 
24 


370  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

The  time  has  now  arrived  when  all  is  at  stake.  The  American 
missionary  societies  have  accomplished  what  American  commerce  and 
fur  traders  have  failed  to  do.  The  trouble  is  now  between  a  "  squaw- 
tocracy  of  British  skin  traders  "  and  Italian  and  Belgian  Jesuits  on  one 
side,  and  American  missionaries  and  settlements  on  the  other.  The  traders 
and  Jesuits  have  nearly  overcome  the  American  missionary  influence. 
The  settlements  are  organized.  The  old  policy  to  get  rid  of  all  opposi 
tion  fur  traders,  destroy  Indian  influence,  and  break  up  missions,  must 
be  tried,  to  prevent  and  destroy  the  settlements. 

The  tli oughts  expressed  in  this  chapter  have  carried  us  in  advance 
of  the  date  of  culminating  events ;  hence,  we  must  return,  in  order 
that  we  may  bring  them  in  the  order  of  their  occurrence. 


CHAPTER  XLVHI. 

1844. — The  settlements  alarmed. — Indian  attack. — Death  of  Gr.  W.  Le  Breton. — Meeting 
at  Mr.  La  Chapelle's. — Volunteer  company  formed. — The  Modeste  in  the  Columbia 
River. — The  Legislative  Assembly. — Names  of  the  members. — Peter  H.  Burnett. — 
Mr.  David  Hill. — Oregon  social  standard. — M.  M.  McCarver. — "  Old  Brass  Gun." — 
A.  L.  Lovejoy. — Daniel  Waldo. — Thomas  D.  Keizer. — Black  act. — Prohibitory 
liquor  law. 

1844. — March  9th  of  this  year  found  our  settlements  alive  and  in 
great  alarm.-  The  Indians  in  the  vicinity  of  Oregon  City  had  made  an 
attack  upon  the  town  on  the  4th  instant,  and  three  white  men  had  been 
wounded  and  one  Indian  killed.  G.  W.  Le  Breton  was  wounded  while 
attempting  to  take  the  Indian  that  commenced  the  attack,  by  a  ball  enter 
ing  and  breaking  his  arm,  from  the  effect  of  which  he  died  some  twelve 
days  after,  and  was  buried  at  Vancouver,  where  he  had  been  taken  for 
surgical  treatment.  The  other  two  received  slight  flesh  wounds, 
although  one  proved  fatal — probably  made  by  a  poisoned  arrow.  The 
Indians  commenced  the  fight  in  open  day,  and  continued  it  till  their 
leader  was  taken  by  Le  Breton,  after  his  arm  was  broken. 

The  Indian  was  placed  under  guard,  and,  on  attempting  to  make  his 
escape,  was  killed.  Those  who  were  with  him,  and  took  part  in  the 
fight,  fled  into  the  thick  wood  back  of  the  town,  and  escaped. 

This  account,  which  we  have  received  from  other  sources,  will  be 
seen  to  differ  slightly  from  the  one  already  given  by  Dr.  White  in  his 
letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War.' 

A  proclamation  was  issued  by  the  Executive  Committee,  calling  for 
an  organization  of  the  military  forces  in  the  settlement.  It  appears, 
from  the  record  of  those  times,  that  but  one  company  was  organized  in 
Champoeg  District.  The  proceedings  of  that  meeting,  as  noted  by  the 
writer,  and  signed  by  the  secretary,  gives  the  fullest  account  we  have, 
and  properly  belongs  to  the  history  of  the  times.  The  attempt  to  de 
stroy  the  people  and  town  at  Wallamet  Falls  was  made  on  the  4th  of 
March ;  the  news  was  conveyed  to  the  old  mission  and  Salem  on  the 
5th  ;  notices  were  immediately  sent  to  the  American  population  to  meet 
on  the  9th,  with  arms,  to  organize  for  defensive  or  offensive  measures. 
In  the  mean  time,  each  individual  and  family  took  such  precautionary 
measures  as  were  thought  advisable,  keeping  guard  over  their  separate 
and  individual  possessions.  Most  of  the  French  or  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 


372  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

pany's  servants  showed  no  alarm  on  the  occasion,  and  very  few  of  them 
turned  out,  or  paid  any  attention  to  the  military  call,  though  the  meet 
ing  was  at  the  house  of  a  Frenchman. 

The  citizens  of  Champoeg  having  met  on  March  9,  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  La  Chapelle,  in  accordance  with  the  proclamation  issued,  the  meet 
ing  was  called  to  order  by  one  of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  the 
proclamation  read. 

Upon  the  suggestion  of  the  executive,  W.  H.  Wilson  was  chosen 
chairman  of  this  meeting,  and  T.  D.  Keizer,  secretary. 

The  object  of  the  meeting  was  briefly  explained  by  one  of  the  Execu 
tive  Committee,  Hon.  A.  Beers,  and  the  chairman.  Information  was 
called  for  concerning  the  depredations  committed  at  Wallumet  Falls  on 
the  4th  instant. 

Mr.  Beers  presented  an  official  letter  from  Hon.  D.  Hill,  one  of  the 
Executive  Committee,  which  was  read.  Statements  were  made  by  Mr. 
Garrison  respecting  accounts  received  from  other  sources,  and  a  letter 
was  presented  by  the  United  States  sub-Indian  agent,  from  A.  L.  Love- 
joy,  Esq.,  respecting  the  affair  of  the  4th,  which  was  read. 

Statements  were  made  by  Hon.  A.  Beers  concerning  the  steps  they 
had  taken,  and  the  orders  they  had  issued. 

On  motion,  the  United  States  sub-Indian  agent  was  requested  to  give 
his  views  and  advice  on  the  subject.  He  accordingly  related  his  pro 
ceeding  in  reference  to  the  matter ;  said  he  was  unprepared  to  give 
advice,  or  suggest  what  was  best  to  be  done  in  the  present  case.  He 
was  fully  aware  of  the  defenseless  state  of  the  colony  and  the  dangers 
to  which  it  was  exposed.  He  knew  the  character  of  the  Indian  that 
was  killed  to-be  of  the  vilest  kind,  and  that  he  had  threatened  and 
attempted  the  lives  of  citizens  before.  The  agent  said  he  had  made  an 
unsuccessful  attempt  to  take  him,  and  have  him  punished  by  the  Cay- 
uses,  to  avoid  the  danger  that  might  result  from  the  whites  punishing 
him  themselves.  This  renegade  had  attempted  to  induce  the  Indians  at 
the  falls  to  burn  the  town  ;  and,  failing  in  this  object,  he  returned 
across  the  river.  The  citizens  attempted  peaceably  to  take  him,  but  in 
the  affray  three  whites  were  wounded,  and  one  Indian  killed.  The  agent 
thought  a  more  efficient  organization  of  the  Territory  necessary. 

Some  remarks  w^ere  made  by  W.  H.  Gray,  and  a  resolution  offered  as 
follows: — 

Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  facts  presented,  \ve  deem  it  expedient 
to  organize  a  volunteer  company  of  mounted  riflemen,  to  co-operate 
with  other  companies,  to  bring  to  justice  all  the  Indians  engaged  in  the 
affair  of  the  4th  of  March,  and  to  protect  our  lives  and  property  against 
any  attempt  at  future  depredations. 


FIRST   VOLUNTEER   COMPANY.  373 

Carried  unanimously.  Whereupon  W.  H.  Gray  presented  some  arti 
cles  of  compact  as  the  basis  of  an  organization  of  a  volunteer  company, 
which,  on  motion,  and  with  warm  expressions  of  approbation  from  the 
United  States  sub-Indian  agent,  were  adopted,  and  immediately  sub 
scribed  to  by  nineteen  volunteers. 

The  articles  of  compact  allowed  the  company  to  elect  a  captain,  lieu 
tenant,  and  ensign,  as  soon  as  twelve  men  should  be  enlisted,  so  the 
company  proceeded,  by  nomination,  to  elect  their  officers,  to  wit :  For 
captain,  T.  D.  Keizcr ;  first  lieutenant,  J.  L.  Morrison  ;  for  ensign,  Mr. 
Cason.  The  captain  gave  notice  to  the  company  of  his  acceptance  of 
the  appointment,  requesting  them  to  meet  at  the  Oregon  Institute, 
armed  and  equipped,  on  the  llth  inst,  for  company  drill. 

On  motion,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted,  viz.  : — 

Resolved,  That  this  meeting  recommend  to  our  fellow-citizens  of  this 
Territory,  to  organize  volunteer  companies  in  their  respective  districts 
forthwith ;  and  to  rendezvous  at  the  Oregon  Institute,  on  Saturday,  the 
23d  instant,  at  12  M. 

Moved,  that  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting  be  signed  by  the  chair 
man  and  secretary,  and  as  much  of  them  as  is  deemed  proper  be  trans 
mitted  to  other  districts.  Carried. 

On  motion,  adjourned. 

W.  H.  WILSON,  Chairman. 
T.  D.  KEIZER,  Secretary. 

It  will  be  seen  by  Dr.  White's  statement,  that  the  Indian  killed  was 
a  renegade  from  the  Cayuse  or  upper  country  Indians.  He  was  doing 
all  he  could  to  excite  the  Indians  and  get  them  to  join  in  a  general 
combination  to  destroy  the  American  settlements  in  the  Wallamet  Val 
ley.  Dr.  White,  as  he  stated  to  the  meeting,  had  now  reached  the  utmost 
limit  of  his  authority  and  influence.  He  knew  not  what  to  do.  He  was 
too  big  a  coward  to  propose  any  bold  measure,  and  too  mean  to  be 
trusted  by  the  settlers ;  hence,  if  the  reader  will  carefully  study  the 
proceedings  of  this  meeting,  he  will  find  a  firm  and  steady  influence,  on 
the  part  of  the  settlers,  leading  on  through  all  the  dangers  and  excite 
ments  of  the  occasion.  The  proposed  company  was  at  once  organized 
and  elected  its  officers.  Gray  accepted  the  office  of  first  sergeant  in 
the  company,  which  was  soon  filled  up  and  drilled,  and  all  were  mounted 
on  good  horses.  This  soon  became  known  throughout  the  settlements, 
and  had  the  effect  to  frighten  the  Indians  and  keep  them  quiet,  so  that 
no  further  disturbance  was  made  in  the  settlements  of  the  Wallamet. 
It  also  had  the  effect  to  secure  in  the  Columbia  River  the  presence  of 
the  Modeste,  a  war  vessel  of  the  English  government,  which  became 


371  HISTORY  OF  OREGOX. 

absolutely  necessary  (ironically  speaking)  to  protect  the  property  and 
interests  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  from  the  threatened  depreda 
tions  of  the  Indians  about  their  posts  at  Vancouver,  as  they  were  rep 
resented  to  be  becoming  far  more  hostile  than  formerly.  The  company 
had  found  that,  since  the  Americans  began  to  settle  in  the  country, 
these  Indians  had  become  more  dangerous  and  hostile  to  them ;  and  as 
their  people  were  scattered  more  extensively  over  the  Indian  country, 
it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  have  their  principal  depot  more  strongly 
fortified  and  protected,  not  against  Indians,  for  they,  by  the  course 
already  pursued  by  that  company,  were  fast  melting  away.  Their 
country  had  been  "  hunted  up  "  and  made  destitute  of  fur-producing 
animals  by  the  advanced  prices  they  had  given  in  1838-40,  and  now 
starvation  was  their  their  only  portion,  unless  the  American  settlers 
would  share  with  them  what  the}'  produced  from  the  soil.  This  Indian 
difficulty  was  only  an  attempt  to  bring  on  an  Indian  war  in  the  Walla- 
met  to  see  how  strong  the  settlements  were,  what  means  of  protection 
they  possessed,  and  what  their  offensive  measures  were  likely  to  be. 

This  opened  the  eyes  of  Sir  James  Douglas  to  the  natural  weakness 
of  Fort  Vancouver.  The  Modeste  was  ordered  to  the  river,  and  other 
preparations  were  made  to  defend  that  establishment  from  an  attack  of 
the  American  settlers.  They  found  from  the  results  of  what  occurred  on 
the  4th  of  March,  that  there  was  a  real  substantial  power  in  the  country, 
and  an  influence  of  combination  that  they  did  not  dream  of;  hence 
they  found  themselves,  with  all  their  Indian  combinations,  the  weaker 
power. 

We  will  now  leave  the  Honorable  Hudson's  Bay  Company  under  the 
protection  of  the  guns  of  her  Majesty's  ship  Modeste,  the  fort  being 
repaired,  bastions  built,  and  all  other  protective  and  defensive  measures 
completed,  while  we  look  after  the  election  and  proceedings  of  the 
Legislative  Assembly  of  1844. 

The  members  elected  from  Tualatin  District  (since  divided  into 
Washington,  Multnomah,  Columbia,  Clatsop,  and  Tilamook  counties) 
were  Peter  H.  Burnett,  David  Hill,  M.  M.  McCarver,  and  Mr.  Gil- 
more. 

Clackamas  District,  including  all  of  Washington  Territory,  Idaho, 
Montana,  and  half  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  State  of  Oregon,  was 
represented  by  A.  L.  Lovejoy.  Champoeg  District,  including  Marion, 
Linn,  Baker,  Douglas,  and  Jackson  counties,  was  represented  by  Daniel 
Waldo,  from  Missouri,  Thomas  D.  Keizer,  from  Arkansas,  and  Robert 
Newell,  from  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Peter  H.  Burnett  was  a  lawyer  from  Missouri,  who  came  to  Oregon 
to  seek  his  fortune,  as  well  as  a  religion  that  would  pay  the  best,  ahd 


ORGANIZING  SECOND  LEGISLATURE.  375 

give  him  the  most  influence ;  which  in  the  Legislative  Committee  was 
sufficient  to  induce  that  body  to  pay  no  attention  to  any  organic  law 
or  principle  laid  down  for  the  government  of  the  settlements.  In  fact, 
he  asserted  that  there  were  no  constitutional  provisions  laid  down  or 
adopted  by  the  people  in  general  convention  at  Champoeg  the  year  pre 
vious.  Mr.  Burnett  was  unquestionably  the  most  intelligent  lawyer 
then  in  the  country.  He  was  a  very  ambitious  man — smooth,  deceit 
ful,  and  insinuating  in  his  manners. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Lovejoy  (another  lawyer),  the  several  members 
were  excused  from  producing  their  credentials,  and  on  motion  of  the 
same  gentleman,  the  house  proceeded  to  elect  a  Speaker.  M.  M.  Mc- 
Carver  was  duly  elected. 

The  journal  of  the  proceedings  of  this  Legislative  Committee  shows 
that  no  regard  was  paid  to  any  previous  laws,  or  constitutional 
provisions. 

David  Hill,  of  Tualatin  District,  was  from  Ohio.  He  was  a  tall,  slim 
man,  of  sallow  complexion,  black  hair,  with  strong  prejudices,  having 
no  regard  for  reli'gion  or  morality.  He  left  an  interesting  wife  and 
family  in  Ohio,  and  passed  himself  off  in  Oregon  for  a  widower  or 
bachelor.  He  was  favorable  to  all  applications  for  divorces,  and  mar 
ried  a  second  wife,  as  near  as  we  could  learn,  before  he  obtained  a 
divorce  (if  he  ever  did)  from  his  first  wife.  He  early  took  an  active 
part  in  the  provisional  government,  and  was  a  decided  opponent  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  as  also  of  all  missionary  efforts  in  the 
country.  This  rendered  him  popular  among  the  settlers,  and  secured 
his  election  as  a  representative  for  that  district  for  several  years, 
although  his  education  was  quite  limited.  As  a  citizen  he  was  gen 
erally  respected.  Though  intimately  acquainted  with  two  of  his  sons, 
we  could  never  learn  that  he  was  any  thing  but  kind  and  affectionate 
as  a  husband  and  father.  The  fact  of  his  leaving  a  wife  and  young 
family  in  Ohio,  coming  to  Oregon,  and  remaining  for  years  without 
making  any  provision  for  them,  is  evidence  of  guilt  in  some  one.  The 
friends  of  his  wife  and  family  spoke  of  them  as  being  highly  esteemed 
by  all  who  knew  them.  But  it  is  of  his  public  acts,  as  connected  with 
the  history  of  Oregon,  that  we  wish  particularly  to  speak. 

The  social  standard  adopted  by  the  people  of  Oregon  was  peculiarly 
adapted  to  favor  men  of  Mr.  Hill's  morality,  and  aid  them  in  rising 
from  the  effect  of  any  former  misconduct  they  may  have  been  guilty 
of  in  any  other  country.  This  standard  was,  to  receive  as  fellow- 
citizens  all  who  came  among  us ;  to  ignore  their  former  actions,  and 
give  them  a  chance  to  start  anew,  and  make  a  name  and  character  in 
the  country. 


376  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

There  must  be  something  noble  and  generous  in  a  people  occupying 
a  new  and  wild  country,  as  Oregon  was  in  those  days,  that  would  lead 
them  to  adopt  a  standard  for  common  action  and  citizenship,  so  pecu- 
liary  republican  and  in  accordance  with  the  most  liberal  and  enlight 
ened  Christianity.  To  this  spirit  of  toleration  and  benevolence  must 
be  attributed,  under  an  all-wise  Providence,  the  complete  success  and 
stability  of  the  first  civil  government  formed  on  this  coast.  Hence,  as 
we  have  before  said,  we  shall  deal  with  men,  morals,  and  politics  as 
they  belonged  to  Oregon  at  the  time  of  which  we  are  writing. 

M.  M.  McCarver,  from  having  acted  as  commissary  in  the  Black 
Hawk  war,  in  Iowa,  was  called  General.  This  title  secured  to  him 
considerable  influence,  and  many  favors  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany.  General  McCarver  was  a  man  of  common  education,  making 
large  pretension  to, political  knowledge,  without  much  judgment  or 
understanding  of  political  economy.  He  was  an  intolerable  debater, 
and  acquired,  among  the  lobby  members  of  the  Legislature,  the  name 
of  "  Old  Brass  Gun"  In  his  political  course,  he 'Strove  hard  for 
popularity,  and  attempted  to  secure  places  of  honor  for  personal  pro 
motion.  He  was  what  would  be  considered  a  Simon  Pure  pro-slavery 
Democrat.  Like  the  silly  moth  in  the  fable,  he  fluttered  around  the 
shadow  of  Dr.  White,  the  sub-Indian  agent,  and  assisted  him  in  insult 
ing  the  Legislative  Committee  of  1845,  arid  attempted  to  get  his  name 
before  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  as  an  important  and  influen 
tial  man,  which  was  divulged  and  defeated  by  another  member  of  the 
same  committee,  though  in  a  cowrardly  and  dishonorable  manner.  We 
are  not  aware  that  General  McCarver  ever  originated  any  important 
measure,  or  performed  any  extensive  or  important  service  in  the 
conntry.  His  political  schemes  were  generally  so  supremely  selfish 
that  they  died  still-born. 

Mr.  Gilmore,  from  the  same  district,  was  a  substantial  farmer.  He 
neither  said  or  did  much,  and  but  little  is  known  of  him. 

A.  Lawrence  Lovejoy,  formerly  from  Massachusetts,  was  a  man  of 
medium  size,  light  complexion,  light  hair,  rather  impetuous  and  dog 
matical  in  his  conversation.  He  crossed  the  mountains  with  the 
immigration  of  1842  to  Dr.  Whitman's  station;  from  that  place  he 
attempted  to  return  to  the  United  States  with  Dr.  Whitman.  As 
near  as  we  can  learn,  he  became  utterly  exhausted  by  the  time  they 
reached  Bent's  Fort  on  the  Arkansas  River,  and  was  left  there  by  the 
Doctor.  In  the  summer  of  1843  he  returned  to  Oregon  and  pursued 
his  professjon  of  law.  In  Oregon  he  has  always  acted  with  the  radical 
Democratic  party,  rather  doubtfully  on  the  pro-slavery  platform.  He 
was  the  first  regular  nominee  for  governor  of  Oregon.  George  Aber- 


DANIEL   WALDO'S   CLAIM.  377 

nethy,  the  secular  agent  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  was  run  as  an 
independent  candidate,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  Peter  H.  Burnett^ 
Mr.  Russell,  and  his  friends,  who  bolted  the  general  convention,  was 
elected  governor,  though  at  the  time  he  was  on  a  visit  to  the  Sandwich 
Islands.  A  large  number  of  political  friends  still  adhered  to  Mr.  Love- 
joy,  and  made  a  second  attempt  to  elect  him  governor.  Mr.  Abcr- 
nethy  was  again  the  opposing  candidate.  It  appeared  in  the  canvass 
of  that  year,  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  generally  voted  for  Mr. 
Lovejoy ;  but  the  personal  kindness  of  Mr.  Abernethy  to  a  priest 
traveling  up  the  Wallamet,  induced  him  to  tell  his  people  to  vote  for 
Mr.  Abernethy,  and  by  this  vote  he  was  elected,  although  a  fair 
majority  of  the  votes  of  the  American  settlers  was  given  for  Mr. 
Lovejoy.  Mr.  Lovejoy,  like  many  of  us,  leaves  but  little  usefulness  or 
philanthropy  to  record,  that  his  talents  and  position  should  have  led 
him  to  aspire  to.  As  a  citizen  and  neighbor,  he  is  kind  and  obliging, 
as  a  lawyer  not  above  mediocrity,  and  it  is  generally  understood  that  he 
makes  no  pretensions  to  religion. 

Daniel  Waldo,  formerly  of  Missouri,  was  a  plain,  substantial  farmer, 
and  the  first  man  who  ventured  to  experiment  upon  the  hills,  or  upland 
portions  of  Oregon.  He  had  owned  extensive  tracts  of  land  on  the 
banks  of  the  Missouri,  a  large  portion  of  which  had  been  washed  away 
by  the  floods,  which  cause  continual  changes  along  the  banks  of  that 
river.  In  coming  to  Oregon,  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  take  the  hills, 
if  there  were  any  in  the  country.  He  did  so,  and  has  proved  by  his 
experiment  the  value  of  a  large  portion  of  country  that  was  before 
considered  worthless  for  cultivation.  From  the  time  Mr.  Waldo 
arrived  in  the  country  he  became  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  Oregon. 
Soon  after  he  had  located  in  the  hills  bearing  his  name,  an  old  ac 
quaintance  of  his,  and  also  of  his  brother  in  Missouri,  came  to  Oregon 
on  a  visit,  and  was  about  to  return  to  the  States.  He  paid  Mr.  Waldo 
a  visit,  and  after  chatting  awhile  and  looking  over  his  farm,  on  which 
we  could  not  see  a  single  rail,  except  a  few  he  had  in  a  corral,  his 
friend  (Colonel  Gilpin)  said  to  him :  "  What  shall  I  say  for  you,  to  your 
brother  in  Missouri  ?"  "  Tell  him,"  said  Waldo,  "  that  I  would  not 
give  the  bare  idea  of  owning  a  section  of  land  in  Oregon  for  all  I  own 
in  Missouri  [which  was  then  two  sections,  1,280  acres],  and  that  I 
would  not  give  a  section  of  land  here  for  the  whole  State  of  Missouri." 
Such  men  gave  a  good  report  of  Oregon,  and  it  is  to  such  that  the 
country  is  indebted  for  her  stability  and  prosperity.  Mr.  Waldo's  ex 
periment  has  shown  the  capacity  of  the  country  for  settlement  to  be 
more  than  double  what  it  was  previously  considered,  and  while  some 
of  those  who  laughed  at  him  and  called  him  an  enthusiast  have  had 


378  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

their  farms,  cattle,  and  houses  swept  away  by  floods,  he  has  remained 
in  the  hills  uninjured  and  secure. 

Thomas  D.  Keizer,  from  Arkansas.  Of  this  man's  early  history  we 
have  learned  but  little.  It  seems  that,  for  some  cause,  he  and  his 
family  were  compelled  to  leave  the  State.  Their  story  is  that  a  gang 
of  counterfeiters  was  exposed  by  them,  and  in  consequence  of  their 
becoming  informers  they  were  surrounded  by  a  mob  and  compelled  to 
leave.  On  first  arriving  in  the  country  they  were  not  scrupulous  as  to 
the  rights  of  their  neighbors,  or  those  of  the  Oregon  Institute,  or  mis 
sion  claims.  They  found  themselves  comfortably  housed  in  the  first 
buildings  of  the  Oregon  Institute,  and  occupied  them  till  it  suited 
their  pleasure  to  leave,  and  to  find  other  quarters  upon  land  claimed  by 
the  mission.  As  was  to  be  expected,  Mr.  Keizer  was  inclined  to  do 
all  he  could  to  curtail  the  mission  and  Institute  claims,  he  being  the 
gainer  by  curtailing  the  claims  of  others.  As  a  politician,  he  consid 
ered  all  little  dirty  tricks  and  slanders  against  an  opponent  justifiable. 
In  religion  he  professed  to  be  a  Methodist. 

Robert  Newell  has  been  previously  described. 

Such  being  the  composition  of  the  Legislative  Committee  of  Oregon 
in  1844,  it  is  not  surprising  that  interests  of  classes  and  cliques  should 
find  advocates,  and  that  the  absolute  wants  of  the  country  should  be 
neglected.  The  whole  time  of  the  session  seems  to  have  been  taken 
up  in  the  discussions  of  personal  bills.  The  question  of  convention  of 
the  people  was  before  this  session  and  was  lost. 

There  was  one  inhuman  act  passed  by  this  Legislative  Committee, 
which  should  stamp  the  names  of  its  supporters  with  disgrace  and 
infamy.  We  find  its  inception  recorded  on  the  25th  of  July,  the  sixth 
day  of  the  session. 

On  motion,  the  rules  were  suspended  for  the  special  purpose  of 
allowing  Hon.  P.  H.  Burnett  to  introduce  a  bill  for  the  prevention 
of  slavery  in  Oregon,  without  giving  previous  notice ;  which  was 
received  and  read  first  time.  It  was  read  a  second  time  next  day  in 
the  forenoon,  and  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  the  bill  to  prevent 
slavery  in  Oregon,  and  for  other  purposes,  was  read  a  third  time,  and 
on  the  question,  "Shall  the  bill  pass?"  the  yeas  and  nays  were  de 
manded,  when  the  vote  stood  :  yeas,  Burnett,  Gilmore,  Keizer,  Waldo, 
Newell,  and  Mr.  Speaker  McCarver — 6  ;  nays,  Lovejoy  and  Hill — 2. 

The  principal  provisions  of  this  bill  were,  that  in  case  a  colored  man 
was  brought  to  the  country  by  any  master  of  a  vessel  he  must  give 
bonds  to  take  him  away  again  or  be  fined,  and  in  case  ilie  negro  was 
found,  or  came  here  from  any  quarter,  the  sheriff  was  to  catch  him 
and  flog  him  forty  lashes  at  a  time,  till  he  left  the  country. 


THE  CRIME   OF  BEING  BLACK.  379 

These  six  Solons,  who  got  up  and  carried  through  this  measure,  did 
it  for  the  good  of  the  black  man  of  course,  as  one  of  the  first  principles 
laid  down  by  the  people  the  year  previous  in  the  organic  law,  and 
unanimously  carried,  was :  "  That  slavery,  except  for  the  punishment 
of  crime,  whereof  the  parties  shall  have  been  previously  convicted, 
shall  never  be  tolerated." 

The  principles  of  Burnett's  bill  made  it  a  crime  for  a  white  man  to 
bring  a  negro  to  the  country,  and  a  crime  for  a  negro  to  come  vol 
untarily  ;  so  that,  in  any  case,  if  he  were  found  in  the  country,  he  was 
guilty  of  a  crime,  and  punishment  or  slavery  was  his  doom. 

Mr.  Burnett  claimed  great  credit  for  getting  up  a  prohibitory  liquor 
law,  and  made  several  speeches  in  favor  of  sustaining  it,  that  being  a 
popular  measure  among  a  majority  of  the  citizens. 

At  the  adjourned  session  in  December,  we  find  the  executive  urging 
the  Legislative  Committee  to  adopt  measures  to  secure  the  permanent 
interests  and  prosperity  of  the  country,  also  to  amend  their  act  relative 
to  the  corporal  punishment  of  the  blacks,  and  again  urging  the  calling 
of  a  convention  of  the  people. 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 

Message  of  the  Executive  Committee. — Observations  on  the  message. — Generosity  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. — The  Methodist  Mission. — The  Oregon  Printing-press 
Association. — George  Abernethy,  Esq. 

To  the  Honorable  the  Legislative  Committee  of  Oregon: 

GENTLEMEN, — As  the  expectation  of  receiving  some  information  from 
the  United  States  relative  to  the  adjustment  of  the  claims  of  that 
government  and  of  Great  Britain  upon  this  country,  was  the  principal 
cause  of  the  adjournment  of  this  assembly  from  June  last  to  this  day, 
we  feel  it  our  duty  to  communicate  such  information  as  we  have  been 
able  to  collect  on  the  subject,  and  likewise  to  recommend  the  adoption 
of  further  measures  for  the  promotion  and  security  of  the  interests  of 
Oregon. 

The  lines  defining  the  limits  of  the  separate  claims  of  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  to  this  portion  of  the  country  had  not  been 
agreed  upon  when  our  latest  advices  left  the  United  States,  and  as  far 
as  we  can  learn,  the  question  now  stands  in  the  same  position  as  before 
the  convention  in  London,  in  1818.  At  that  time,  the  United  States 
government  proposed  to  draw  the  division  line  on  the  forty-ninth  par 
allel  of  north  latitude  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  To  this  Great  Britain  would  only  consent  in  part,  that  the 
line  should  run  on  the  forty-ninth  parallel  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods 
to  the  dividing  ridge  of  the  Rocky  Mountains;  and  it  was  finally 
agreed  upon,  between  the  parties,  that  all  the  country  lying  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  should,  with  its  harbors, 
bays,  and  rivers,  remain  open  for  ten  years  to  the  vessels,  subjects,  or 
citizens  of  both  countries.  But  it  was  at  the  same  time  expressly 
understood,  that  the  said  agreement  was  not  to  be  construed  to 
affect  or  prejudice  the  claims  of  either  party,  or  any  other  power,  to 
any  portion  of  said  country.  Before  this  agreement  expired,  another 
convention  was  held  in  London,  in  1827,  by  the  two  contracting  powers, 
by  which  the  former  treaty  was  extended,  with  the  provision,  that 
when  either  of  the  parties  thought  fit,  after  the  20th  of  October,  1828, 
to  abrogate  the  convention,  they  were  at  liberty  to  do  so,  by  giving 
twelve  months'  notice  to  the  other  contracting  party  ;  but  nothing  in 
the  treaty  of  1827  was  to  be  construed  so  as  to  affect,  in  any  manner, 


EWIXG  YOUNG'S   ESTATE.  SSI 

the  claims  which  either  of  the  contracting  parties,  or  any  other  power, 
might  have  to  any  of  the  country  lying  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  subject  has  again  been  called  up  for  investigation  by  the  two 
powers,  and  a  negotiation  was  begun  at  Washington  in  the  early  part 
of  the  present  year,  but  was  for  the  time  being  suspended  on  account 
of  a  disagreement  between  the  parties ;  and  notice  of  the  abrogation  of 
the  convention  of  1827  had  not  been  given  by  either  party  when  our 
latest  information  left  the  United  States.  And  we  find  that  after  all  the 
negotiations  that  have  been  carried  on  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  relative  to  settling  their  claims  to  this  country,  from 
October,  1818,  up  to  May,  1844,  a  period  of  nearly  twenty-six  years, 
the  question  remains  in  the  following  unsettled  position,  viz. : — 

Neither  of  the  parties  in  question  claim  exclusive  right  to  the  country 
lying  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  between  the  parallels  of  forty-two 
degrees  and  fifty-four  degrees  forty  minutes  north  latitude,  and  border 
ing  on  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  but  one  claims  as  much  right  as  the  other, 
and  both  claim  the  right  of  joint  occupancy  of  the  whole  without  pre 
judice  to  the  claims  of  any  other  state  or  power  to  any  part  of  said 
country. 

We  have  submitted  to  you  this  information,  gentlemen  of  the  Assem 
bly,  for  two  reasons  : — 

1st.  To  correct  an  error  that  occurred  in  our  last  communication  to 
this  body  relative  to  the  claims  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain 
to  this  country. 

2d.  That  you  may  bear  in  mind,  while  legislating  for  the  people  of 
Oregon,  the  position  in  which  this  country  stands  with  regard  to  those 
claims. 

We  would  advise  that  provision  be  made  by  this  body  for  the  fram 
ing  and  adoption  of  a  constitution  for  Oregon,  previous  to  the  next 
annual  election,  which  may  serve  as  a  more  thorough  guide  to  her 
officers,  and  a  more  firm  basis  of  her  laws.  It  should  be  constructed  in 
such  a  manner  as  would  best  suit  the  local  situation  of  the  country,  and 
promote  the  general  interests  of  the  citizens,  without  interfering  with 
the  real  or  pretended  rights  of  the  United  States  or  Great  Britain, 
except  when  the  protection  of  life  and  property  actually  require  it. 

We  would  suggest  for  your  information  that  this  government  has 
now  in  its  possession  notes  given  by  different  individuals  residing  in 
the  country,  amounting  tox$3,734.26,  most  of  which  are  already  due. 
These  notes  are  a  balance  in  favor  of  Ewing  Young,  of  Oregon,  de 
ceased,  intestate,  A.  D.  1840,  after  all  legal  dues,  debts,  and  damages  are 
paid,  that  have  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  administrator  or  Probate 
Courts  of  Oregon  up  to  this  date.  We  would,  therefore,  advise  that 


332  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

these  claims  should  be  collected  and  appropriated  to  the  benefit  of  the 
country,  the  government  being  at  all  times  responsible  for  the  payment 
of  them  to  those  who  may  hereafter  appear  to  have  a  legal  right  to  the 
same. 

We  would  agnin  call  your  attention  to  a  measure  recommended  in 
our  last  communication,  to  wit,  the  expediency  of  making  provision  for 
the  erection  of  a  public  jail  in  this  country.  Although  the  community 
has  suffered  very  little  as  yet  for  the  want  of  such  a  building,  and  per 
haps  another  year  might  pass  without  its  being  occupied,  which  it  is 
hoped  may  be  the  case,  yet  we  are  assured  that  it  is  better  policy  to  have 
the  building  standing  without  a  tenant  than  a  tenant  without  the  build 
ing.  And  in  order  to  promote  industry  and  the  peace  and  welfare  of 
the  citizens  of  Oregon,  this  government  must  be  prepared  to  discounte 
nance  indolence,  and  check  vice  in  the  bud. 

We  would  now  recommend  to  your  consideration  the  propriety  of 
making  provision  for  filling  public  offices  which  now  are  or  may  become 
vacant  by  resignation  or  otherwise,  previous  to  the  next  annual  election. 

We  would  recommend  that  the  act  passed  by  this  assembly  in  June 
last,  relative  to  blacks  and  mulattoes,  be  so  amended  as  to  exclude 
corporal  punishment,  nnd  require  bonds  for  good  behavior  in  its  stead. 

We  consider  it  a  highly  important  subject  that  the  executive  of  this 
government  should  have  laws  which  may  direct  them  in  settling  mat 
ters  relative  to  lands  reserved  by  Indians,  which  have  been,  or  may 
hereafter  be,  settled  upon  by  whites. 

We  would  also  recommend  that  provisions  be  made  for  the  support 
of  lunatics  and  insane  persons  in  Oregon. 

With  regard  to  the  state  of  the  treasury,  we  would  refer  you  to  the 
treasurer's  report  to  this  Assembly. 

We  are  informed  that  the  number  of  immigrants  who  have  come  to 
this  country  from  the  United  States  during  the  present  year  amounts 
to  upward  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  persons. 

We  would  recommend  that  the  act  passed  last  June,  defining  the 
northern  boundaries  of  Tualatin  and  Clatsop  counties,  be  so  explained  as 
not  to  conflict  with  the  act  passed  in  this  Assembly  in  June,  1843, 
extending  the  limits  of  Oregon  to  fifty-four  degrees  forty  minutes  north 
latitude. 

And  we  would  suggest,  in  conclusion,  that  to  preserve  the  peace, 
good  order,  and  kind  feeling,  which  have  hitherto  existed  among  the 
inhabitants  of  this  country,  depends  very  much  upon  the  calm  and 
deliberate  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  and  we  sincerely  hope  that 
Oregon,  by  the  special  aid  of  Divine  Providence  may  set  an  unpre 
cedented  example  to  the  world  of  industry,  morality,  and  virtue. 


NEGRO  LAW  NOT  ENFORCED.  383 

And  although  we  may  now  be.  unknown  as  a  state  or  power,  yet  we 
have  the  advantages,  by  the  united  efforts  of  our  increasing  population, 
in  a  diligent  attention  to  agriculture,  arts,  and  literature,  of  attaining, 
at  no  distant  day,  to  as  conspicuous  an  elevation  as  any  State  or  power 
on  the  continent  of  America. 

But  in  order  to  carry  this  important  measure,  and  arise  to  that  dis 
tinguished  station,  it  becomes  the  duty  of  every  citizen  of  this  country 
to  take  a  deep  interest  in  its  present  and  future  welfare. 

As  descendants  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  we  should 
honor  and  respect  the  countries  which  gave  us  birth ;  and,  as  citizens 
of  Oregon,  we  should,  by  a  uniform  course  of  proceeding,  and  a  strict 
observance  of  the  rules  of  justice,  equity,  and  republican  principles, 
without  party  distinction,  use  our  best  endeavors  to  cultivate  the  kind 
feeling,  not  only  of  our  native  countries,  but  of  all  the  powers  or  states 
with  whom  we  may  have  intercourse. 

Signed,  OSBORNE  RUSSELL, 

P.  G.  STEWART. 
Executive  Committee  of  Oregon. 

Dated,  WALLAMET  FALLS,  Dec.  16,  1844. 

To  the  honor  of  the  country,  Peter  H.  Burnett's  negro- whipping  law 
was  never  enforced  in  a  single  instance,  against  a  white  or  black  man,  • 
as  no  officer  of  the  provisional  government  felt  it  incumbent  upon  him 
self  to  attempt  to  enforce  it. 

The  proposed  constitutional  revision  was  also  strongly  recommended 
by  the  Executive  Committee,  and  the  Legislative  Committee  went 
through  the  farce  of  calling  a  convention,  and  increased  the  number  of 
representatives,  and  called  it  a  Legislature.  In  fact,  the  \vhole  pro 
ceedings  seemed  only  to  mix  up  and  confuse  the  people  ;  so  much  so, 
that  some  doubted  the  existence  of  any  legal  authority  in  the  country, 
and  the  leading  men  of  the  immigration  of  1843  denounced  the  organ 
ization  as  a  missionary  arrangement  to  secure  the  most  valuable  farming 
lands  in  the  country. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  under  the  guidance  of  James  Douglas 
and  P.  S.  Ogden,  carried  forward  their  plans  and  arrangements  by 
placing  men  at  their  posts  along  the  line  of  the  immigrant  route,  who 
were  doing  all  they  could,  by  misrepresentation  and  falsehood,  to  deceive 
and  rob  those  who  were  journeying  to  this  country. 

But,  says  the  sycophant,  the  early  settlers  of  Oregon  are  greatly 
indebted  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  for  supplies  of  goods  and  pro 
visions  sent  to  aid  the  starving  immigrants.  General  Palmer  tells  us 
(page  42)  that  flour  at  Fort  Hall,  when  he  came  along,  was  twenty  dol- 


384  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

lars  per  one  hundred  pounds ;  cnttle  were  from  five  to  twelve  dollars  per 
head.  They  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  receive  any  thing  in 
exchange  for  their  goods  or  provisions,  except  cattle  or  money. 

Two  to  four  cows,  or  two  yoke  of  oxen  for  a  hundred  pounds  of  flour 
is  great  generosity,  and  renders  the  man  who  gives  his  last  cow  or  ox 
to  the  company,  under  great  obligations ;  as  much  so  as  the  early  settlers 
and  the  company's  servants  were  in  taking  care  of  their  cattle  for  the 
little  milk  they  could  get  from  them,  the  company  claiming  the  cow 
and  increase,  and  pay  for  any  animal  lost.  This  was  Hudson's  Bay 
Company's  generosity  to  the  early  settlers ! 

They  found  that  through  the  influence  of  Burnett,  Newell,  Pomeroy, 
and  a  few  other  Americans,  they  could  accomplish  more  than  by  direct 
opposition,  and  therefore  began  to  change  their  course,  and  manifest 
approval  of  the  provisional  government ;  so  much  so,  that  Ermatinger, 
a  member  of  the  company,  was  elected  treasurer  in  1845,  in  opposition 
to  P.  Foster,  who  served  in  1844. 

During  the  summer  of  1844,  Rev.  George  Geary  arrived  in  the  country, 
"  clothed  with  discretionary  power,"  and  had  the  destiny  of  missionaries, 
laymen,  property,  and  all,  put  into  his  hands.  He  superseded  Mr.  Lee. 
Mr.  Hines  returned  from  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  they  proceeded  at 
once  to  dispose  of  the  missionaries  and  property  of  the  Methodist 
Mission. 

The  stations  at  Clatsop,  Nasqualla,  and  the  Dalles  were  given  up. 
That  at  the  Dalles  was  sold  to  the  American  Board,  that  on  Clatsop  to 
Rev.  J.  L.  Parish,  while  the  station  at  Nasqualla  was  abandoned  by 
Rev.  J.  P.  Richmond,  who,  with  Rev.  Messrs.  Kone  and  Frost,  had  be 
come  dissatisfied  with  their  Indian  missionary  labors,  and  returned  to 
the  States.  Rev.  Messrs.  D.  Lee  and  H.  K.  W.  Perkins,  Dr.  Babcock, 
and  Mr.  Brewer  had  all  made  up  their  minds  to  leave  the  country. 

These  missionaries,  having  enlisted  in  a  cause  surrounded,  at  the  time 
of  their  engagements,  with  all  the  romance  of  early  missionary  life  in 
the  far  west,  as  soon  as  they  reached  their  field  of  labor,  had  found  that 
romance  and  real  life  among  the  Indians  did  not  accord  with  the  feel 
ings  of  their  proud  and  supremely  selfish  hearts.  They  were  not  satis 
fied  with  silently  withdrawing  from  the  country,  and  encouraging  others 
more  capable  and  better  adapted  to  the  missionary  work  to  come  to  it ; 
but  they  joined  with  Dr.  White,  a  bitter  enemy  of  Rev.  J.  Lee,  and  suc 
ceeded  in  obtaining  the  latter  gentleman's  removal  from  the  superin- 
tendency,  and,  through  Rev.  Messrs.  Geary  and  Hines,  the  abandon 
ment  of  their  Indian  mission. 

As  an  outside  eye-witness  of  these  transactions,  we  will  state  frankly 
our  impressions  as  to  the  general  closing  up  of  the  Methodist  missionary 


THE   COMPANY  OBSTRUCT   MISSIONARIES.  385 

labors  among  the  Indians.  The  special  and  general  watchfulness  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  their  influence  over  the  leading  members 
of  the  mission,  and  the  effort  they  made  to  counteract  the  moral  and 
civil  improvement  of  the  Indians,  was  brought  to  bear  both  directly  and 
indirectly  upon  the  superior  and  subordinate  members,  the  same  as  it 
had  been  upon  the  members  of  the  missions  of  the  American  Board,  and 
caused  a  division  in  sentiment  as  to  the  usefulness  and  results  of  mission 
ary  labor,  and  thus  crippled  their  efforts,  and  caused  many  of  them  to 
join  with  Dr.  White,  and  complain  of  Superintendent  Lee,  as  an  excuse 
to  abandon  the  missionary  work. 

While  these  influences  were  working  their  intended  results  upon  all 
the  American  missionaries,  the  Jesuits,  having  explored  the  country, 
under  the  patronage  and  by  the  assistance  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany,  were  making  extensive  preparations  to  occupy  it  with  their  mis 
sionaries,  who  were  then  being  collected,  and  sent  from  Belgium  and 
Canada  to  Oregon,  under  the  direction  of  that  arch-Jesuit,  P.  J.  De 
Smet,  and  Bishop  Blanchet. 

By  the  time  they  arrived,  the  Methodist  Indian  missions  were  all 
disposed  of;  thus  enabling  the  Jesuits  to  fix  their  undivided  attention 
and  combine  their  united  influence  against  the  missions  of  the  American 
Board,  which  all  admitted  were  accomplishing  a  noble  work  among  the 
tribes  of  their  charge. 

As  Mr.  Fitzgerald  says  :  "  But  the  company  not  only  get  rid  of  mis 
sionaries  as  soon  as  they  can  do  so  without  dangerous  unpopularity,  but 
they  obstruct  them  in  the  performance  of  their  duties  while  in  the 
country."  (See  page  189  of  his  work.) 

This  opposition  to  the  missionaries  was  not  caused  by  the  Indians, 
but  the  personal  opposition  of  the  company,  as  proved  by  Sir  J.  Felly's 
answer  to  the  question,  "  Have  you  found  a  disposition  on  the  part  of 
the  natives  to  receive  moral  and  religious  instruction."  "Very  great. 
There  were  a  couple  of  young  lads  sent  from  the  Columbia  District, 
to  whom  the  names  of  Pelly  and  Garry  were  given ;  these  lads  were 
revered  by  the  natives,  when  they  returned,  for  the  religious  instruc 
tions  they  were  enabled  to  give."  (See  page  195,  of  the  work  above 
quoted.) 

One  Congregational  and  five  Methodist  ministers  have  left  the  coun 
try  with  their  families.  Five  Jesuit  priests  and  as  many  nuns  are  com 
ing  to  it.  Eight  hundred  emigrants  are  plodding  their  way  over  the 
mountains  and  plains  with  ox-teams,  to  find  a  home  in  this  country. 
The  sub-Indian  agent  has  worked  himself  quiet.  The  Indians  are 
waiting  orders,  watching  the  immigration,  and  getting  ready  to  strike 
at  the  proper  time. 
25 


386  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Mr.  Lease  had  brought  a  band  of  five  hundred  head  of  California 
cattle  to  the  country  and  disposed  of  most  of  them  to  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company. 

The  Oregon  Printing-Press  Association  was  formed,  and  about 
eighty  shares,  at  $10  each,  were  subscribed,  and  the  money  sent  to 
New  York  for  press,  type,  and  paper,  by  George  Abernethy,  Esq., 
who,  after  the  provisional  organization  in  1843,  became  a  valuable  sup 
porter  of  all  the  best  interests  of  the  country.  His  integrity  of  charac 
ter,  consistent  piety,  and  unbounded  generosity,  but  few  will  question. 
From  his  position,  and  connection  with  the  Methodist  Mission,  he  has 
Buffered  much  pecuniary  loss,  from  men  who  were  ever  ready  to  take 
undue  advantage  of  a  confiding  and  generous  disposition. 

As  a  public  officer  he  always  held  a  negative  position,  the  tendency 
of  which  was  to  hold  all  in  suspense,  and  wait  for  some  future  action, 
or  to  be  carried  forward  by  events  that  might  occur.  He  could  not  be 
called  a  leader  in  any  civil,  religious,  or  political  measure,  yet  he  truly 
represented,  in  his  public  capacity,  the  organization  of  which  he  was  a 
member.  So  far  as  he  was  capable,  he  held  in  abeyance  all  laws  and 
measures,  to  what  he  considered  would  be  the  policy  of  the  United 
States  government  at  some  future  time.  The  natural  result  of  this 
position  was,  to  accomplish  nothing  definitely.  Hence  we  find  in  all 
his  public  acts,  this  tender  spirit,  and  want  of  decided  action. 

Mr.  Hines  started  for  the  United  States  by  way  of  China.  The 
property  of  the  Methodist  Mission  was  distributed,  and  the  settlers 
had  increased ;  while  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  were  busily  prepar 
ing  to  defend  their  assumed  rights  by  arming  their  forts  and  Indians 
in  a  manner  so  as  not  to  excite  suspicion,  or  alarm  the  American  settle 
ments 


CHAPTER  L. 

Dr.  White's  report. — Sei7,ure  and  destruction  of  a  distillery. — Homicide  of  Joel  Turnham 
— State  of  the  Territory. — Trials  of  Dr.  White. — The  liquor  law.— Revenue  act — 
Case  of  the  negro  Saul. — The  Indians  kill  an  ox. — Other  Indian  difficulties. — Indian 
expedition  to  California, — Death  of  the  Indian  Elijah. — State  of  the  Territory. — 
Claim  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Columbia. — Letter 
of  Peter  H,  Burnett.— The  Nez  Perces  and  Cayuses. — Extract  from  the  report  of 
the  United  States  Senate, 

WE  give  the  following  extracts  from  Dr.  White's  Indian  report  and 
proceedings  in  Oregon,  that  the  reader  may  be  informed  as  to  what  he 
claimed  to  be  his  influence,  and  also  the  way  he  maneuvered  with  the 
Indians  and  settlers ;  with  his  full  account  of  the  killing  of  the  young 
Indian  Elijah  in  California. 

The  letters  from  the  different  missionaries  show  the  condition  of  the 
American  missions  at  the  time.  Mr.  Lee  and  the  Jesuit  missionaries 
did  not  deem  him  the  proper  agent  to  report  to.  Notwithstanding,  in 
his  report,  given  in  a  previous  chapter,  he  attributes  to  the  Jesuit  mis 
sionaries  improvements  wholly  made  by  the  Americans,  not  from  igno 
rance  of  the  fact,  but  from  personal  prejudice. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  committee  in  Congress,  to  whom  his  report 
and  petition  was  referred,  deemed  it  equitable  and  just  on  general 
principles,  and  allowed  it. 

WALLAMET,  November  4,  1844. 

SIR, — The  Hudson's  Bay  ship  Columbia  sailing  in  a  few  days,  via 
Sandwich  Islands,  for  England,  by  the  politeness  of  her  owners  I  have 
the  honor  of  again  addressing  you,  and  certainly  under  circumstances 
most  favorable  and  gratifying. 

Since  my  last,  forwarded  in  March,  aside  from  two  or  three  incidents 
of  an  unpleasant  nature,  the  colony  and  country  have  been  in  a  state 
of  unusual  quietness,  and  the  season  has  been  one  of  great  prosperity. 

The  legislative  body,  composed  of  nine  members,  met  on  the  24th  of 
May,  at  the  falls  at  Wallamet,  and  closed  their  short  but  effective  ses 
sion  in  nine  days ;  having  passed,  in  due  form,  twenty-five  bills,  most 
of  which  were  of  importance  to  us  in  the  regulation  of  our  intercourse. 
A  few  of  these  lawrs  I  transmit  to  you,  and  would  here  remark,  the 
taxes  were  in  general  cheerfully  paid.  The  liquor  bill  is  popular,  and 
the  laws  of  Oregon  are  honored. 


388  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

The  Liquor  act  not  coming  in  force  under  sixty  days  from  its  passage, 
a  few  individuals  (having  clandestinely  prepared,  before  its  passage) 
improved  this  favored  moment  to  dispose  of  all  they  could  with  any 
hopes  of  safety;  Of  this  I  was  immediately  notified,  and  hastened  in 
from  the  Tualatin  Plains,  all  the  mischief,  "  as  heretofore,"  being  done 
in  and  about  the  town  at  the  falls  of  the  Wallamet. 

Liquor  was  in  our  midst,  as  was  but  too  manifest  from  the  noisy, 
vulgar,  obscene,  and  even  diabolical  expressions  of  those  who  had  pre 
viously  ever  conducted  themselves  in  a  quiet  and  orderly  manner. 

This  was  perplexing  and  exciting,  as  all  professed  ignorance ;  and 
many  opinions  prevailed  regarding  the  amount  manufactured,  and  tho 
number  interested,  and  especially  regarding  the  seat  of  mischief  or 
point  where  distilled. 

I  resolved,  at  whatever  danger  or  cost,  to  nip  this  in  the  bud,  pro 
cured  the  call  of  a  public  meeting  at  once,  and  bad  the  happiness  to  re 
ceive  the  following  expression  from  all  but  one  convened : — 

"  Resolved,  That  it  be  the  sense  of  this  meeting,  that  Dr.  White,  in 
his  official  relation,  take  such  assistance  as  he  may  require,  and  forth 
with  search  out  and  destroy  all  intoxicating  liquor  that  may  be  found 
in  this  vicinity  or  district  of  country. 

"P.  G.  STEWART. 

"  JOHN  E.  LONG,  "  Executive  Chairman, 

"  Secretary." 

I  started  with  ten  volunteers  early  the  ensuing  morning,  and  found 
the  distillery  in  a  deep,  dense  thicket,  eleven  miles  from  town,  at  three 
o'clock,  P.  si.  The  boiler  was  a  large-size  potash  kettle,  and  all  the  ap 
paratus  well  accorded.  Two  hogsheads  and  eight  ban-els  of  slush  or 
beer  were  standing  ready  for  distillation,  with  a  part  cf  one  barrel  of 
molasses.  No  liquor  could  be  found,  nor  as  yet  had  much  been  distilled. 

Having  resolved  on  my  course,  I  left  no  time  for  reflection,  but  at 
once  upset  the  nearest  cask,  when  the  noble  volunteers  immediately 
seconded  my  measures,  making  a  river  of  beer  in  a  moment;  nor  did 
we  stop  till  the  kettle  was  raised,  and  elevated  in  triumph  at  the  prow 
of  our  boat,  and  every  cask,  with  all  the  distilling  apparatus,  was 
broken  to  pieces  and  utterly  destroyed.  We  then  returned,  in  high 
cheer,  to  the  town,  where  our  presence  and  report  gave  general  joy. 

Two  hours  after  my  arrival,  I  received  from  James  Connor,  one  of 
the  owners,  a  written  challenge  for  a  bloody  combat ;  which  ended, 
last  week  in  his  being  indicted  before  the  grand  jury,  fined  $500,  and' 
disfranchised  for  life. 


RESOURCES  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  389 

Six  weeks  since,  an  unhappy  affray  occurred  between  one  Joel  Turn- 
ham,  late  from  Missouri,  and  Webley  Hauxlmrst,  of  Wallamet,  and 
serious  threats  passing  from  the  former,  a  warrant  was  issued,  and 
Turnham,  resisting  with  a  deadly  weapon,  was  shot  down  by  the 
officer;  for  which  he  comes  before  the  grand  jury  to-morrow.  Turn- 
ham  expired  at  once,  being  shot  with  three  mortal  wounds  through  the 
neck  and  head,  but  with  singular  desperation  fought  and  resisted  to 
the  last. 

So  far  as  I  understand  the  public  expression,  all  unite  in  acquitting 
the  officer,  who  has  ever  been  a  harmless,  <|uie,t,  good  citizen ;  while 
Turnham  was  regarded  as  a  most  desperate  and  dangerous  character 
all  abroad,  having  left  Missouri  under  circumstances  most  unfavorable 
to  his  reputation  and  quiet  here,  where  he  has  been  particularly  sour, 
irritable,  and  quarrelsome;  and  was  the  more  obnoxious  as  he  was 
reputed  brave  and  generally  too  stout  for  his  antagonist. 

November  8. — Since  penning  the  last,  the  grand  jury  have  unani 
mously  declared  no  bill;  and  here  allow  me  to  say,  having  accom 
panied  Judge  Babcock  to  four  of  the  courts  embraced  in  the  circuit 
of  five  counties,  I  have  not  seen  in  any  country  such  uniform  decorum 
and  quietness  as  has  prevailed  throughout  at  these  courts.  Much  of 
this  mildness,  sobriety,  and  good  order,  is  doubtless  attributable  to  the 
absence  of  all  intoxicating  drinks. 

The  laws  of  this  country,  framed  to  meet  present  circumstances,  are 
taking  deeper  and  stronger  root  continually.  And  some  are  already 
suggesting,  "notwithstanding  our  infancy,"  whether,  if  longer  left 
without  a  mother's  protection,  it  will  not  be  well  to  undertake  to  run 
alone. 

The  resources  of  the  country  are  rapidly  developing,  and  the  expec 
tations  of  the  people  are  generally  high ;  the  mildness  of  the  climate 
and  the  strength  of  the  soil  greatly  encourage  the  large  immigration  of 
last  year.  For  the  last  twelve  months,  mercury  has  ranged  from  96  to 
:30 ;  four-fifths  of  the  time  from  80  to  55  ;  making  an  agreeable  sum 
mer  and  mild  winter,  grazing  being  good  throughout ;  so  much  BO 
that  the  jaded  and  worn-down  animals  of  the  poor  immigrants  fatted 
up  greatly  to  their  surprise,  before  spring,  without  feeding  or  the  least 
attention. 

Crops  of  all  kinds  usually  good,  even  to  Indian  corn,  and  cheerful 
ness  prevails  throughout  since  harvesting.  As  statements  have  been 
made  in  the  States  derogatory  to  our  soil,  allow  me  to  say,  it  is 
believed,  with  the  same  cultivation,  no  country  produces  better  wheat, 
oats,  peas,  barley,  potatoes,  or  any  crop  save  Indian  corn,  for  which  the 
nights  are  generally  too  cool  for  a  heavy  growth.  The  wheat  crops, 


390  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

being  never  injured  by  the  frosts  of  winter  or  the  rains  of  summer,  as 
in  the  States,  are  remarkably  sure ;  nor  as  yet  have  our  crops  been 
disturbed  by  flies  or  insects. 

Wheat  crops  are  heavy,  as  you  will  judge  when  I  assure  you,  from 
simply  turning  over  the  prairie  in  June,  scattering  the  seed  in  October, 
and  then  with  no  further  trouble  than  passing  the  harrow  over  it,  ten 
acres  upon  my  plantation  grew  five  hundred  and  forty-one  bushels  and 
a  half.  The  river  flats,  containing  much  alluvial  deposit,  are  very  rich  ; 
the  plains  beautiful  and  verdant,  being  admirably  watered,  but  gener 
ally  sparsely  timbered*;  the  high  lands  well  timbered  and  watered  in 
many  parts,  the  soil  tolerable,  producing  herbage  for  an  abundance  of 
deer,  elk,  mountain  sheep,  etc.  The  entire  Wallamet  and  Umpqua 
valleys,  capable  of  sustaining  a  population  of  several  millions,  it  is  gen 
erally  believed  can  not  be  excelled,  as  a  whole,  for  richness  of  soil, 
variety,  grandeur,  or  beauty  of  scenery  ;  nor,  considering  the  latitude, 
can  be  equaled  in  mildness,  equability,  and  agreeableness  of  climate. 

Since  last  writing,  abundance  of  limestone  has  been  found  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia,  and  likewise  in  this  valley,  conveniently 
obtained,  and  proves  of  an  excellent  quality.  The  Rev.  Mr.  De  Smet 
arrived  here  in  August  last,  bringing,  as  a  part  of  his  cargo,  six 
priests  and  as  many  nuns,  fine,  hale-looking  girls,  very  acceptable  just 
now,  particularly  as  the  Methodist  Mission  is  breaking  up,  and  the 
half-breed  Canadian  daughters  are  rapidly  multiplying. 

Having  no  pilot  or  chart  to  depend  upon,  and  his  commander  a 
stranger,  he  sailed  in  through  the  south  channel,  greatly  to  the  sur 
prise  and  alarm  of  all  on  shore,  but  without  injury  or  difficulty,  not 
once  touching,  and  reporting  abundance  of  water  for  the  heaviest 
burden  ships. 

The  sands  are  supposed  to  have  changed  and  improved  the  channel ; 
but  of  this  I  know  nothing,  and  am  not  a  little  skeptical.  I  am 
induced  to  attribute  their  success  more  to  the  fine  day  and  small 
vessel  than  change  of  the  sands  in  their  favor  since  Captain  Wilkes 
left.  Captain  Couch,  however,  who  has  now  been  passing  in  and  out 
here  for  the  last  five  years  in  the  service  of  Mr.  Cushing,  of  Newbury- 
port,  pronounces  it  a  better  port  to  enter  than  theirs,  and  says,  with 
pilots,  there  will  be  little  difficulty  or  danger. 

Our  exports  are  wheat,  beaver,  salmon,  and  lumber,  for  which,  in 
return,  we  obtain  from  the  Sandwich  Islands,  sugar,  molasses,  tea, 
coffee,  and  other  commodities  brought  there  from  China,  England, 
and  America. 

We  are  much  in  want  of  a  currency  and  market,  American  mer 
chants  being  as  yet  a  slender  reliance ;  and  in  view  of  the  large  immi- 


MR.   LITTLEJOHN'S   LETTER.  391 

grating  parties  of  each  year,  we  should  be  greatly  distressed  for 
necessary  articles  of  wearing  apparel,  but  for  the  most  commendable 
spirit  of  accommodation  on  the  part  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

Could  some  arrangement  be  entered  into  for  us  to  supply  the  navy 
of  the  Pacific  with  bread,  beef,  pork,  fish,  etc.,  we  would  thereby  be 
much  improved  in  our  condition.  This  might,  and  perhaps  ought  to 
be  done,  in  view  of  the  encouragements  held  out  for  our  people  to 
emigrate  to  this  country.  Should  it  not  be  convenient  for  our  ships  of 
war  to  come  to  the  Columbia  for  such  supplies,  they  could  be  shipped 
to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  if  required.  But  more  of  this  another  time. 

Having  just  taken  the  tour  of  the  colony  for  the  purpose  of  attend 
ing  the  courts  and  visiting  the  schools,  it  affords  me  pleasure  to  say  I 
felt  amply  rewarded.  I  found  throughout  health,  cheerfulness,  and 
prosperity,  and,  certainly,  most  surprising  improvements  for  the  short 
time  since  the  settlers  commenced.  The  decorum  of  the  courts  I  have 
spoken  of,  and  now  have  only  to  speak  of  the  schools  and  Indians,  and 
I  am  done,  fearing  I  have  already  wearied  your  patience.  For  the 
want  of  means,  the  Methodist  manual  labor  Indian  school  has  lately 
been  broken  up,  and  this  is  now  occupied  as  a  boarding-school  for 
white  children  of  both  sexes.  The  school  is  yet  small,  but  well  con 
ducted,  and  promises  usefulness  to  the  colony.  The  school  at  the  falls 
of  the  Wallamet  and  Tualatin  Plains,  and  likewise  the  one  under  the 
direction  of  Rev.  Mr.  Blanchet,  Catholic  clergyman,  are  all  small, — 
numbering  from  fifteen  to  thirty  only, — but  are  all  well  kept  and  doing 
good.  I  feel  solicitous  on  this  subject,  and  am  saying  and  doing  what 
I  can  to  encourage  education,  but,  like  all  other  new  countries,  the 
people  need  and  require  their  children  much  at  home. 

Since  the  unhappy  affair  last  spring,  the  Indians  have  been  unusually 
quiet,  and  the  summer  has  been  spent  without  alarm.  I  sent  my  inter 
preter,  Mr.  Lee,  to  the  Wallawallas  six  weeks  since,  to  make  some 
presents  to  the  chiefs,  as  a  safe  conduct  to  the  immigrants  down  to  this 
place,  but  having,  as  yet,  nothing  from  him  of  interest,  I  addressed  a 
line  to  Mr.  J.  B.  Littlejohn,  who  is  just  down  from  there,  and  received 
the  annexed  reply  ;  all  other  statements  are  corroborative  : — 

"WALLAMET,  November  1,  1844. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — It  is  with  the  utmost  pleasure  I  undertake  to  give  you 
what  information  I  am  able  to  do.  I  have  resided  with  the  missionaries 
of  the  American  Board  for  two  years  past ;  I  have  known  their  hearts, 
and  am  well  acquainted  with  all  they  have  done.  Their  influence  among 
the  Indians  is  by  no  means  small,  or  their  efforts  vain,  as  their  condi 
tion  is  very  much  improved,  both  in  a  spiritual  and  temporal  point  of 


392  HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 

view.  And,  dear  sir,  your  efforts  among  and  for  them  have  been  much 
to  their  advantage,  and  at  the  same  time  not  to  the  disadvantage  of  the 
missionaries,  but  greatly  to  increase  their  usefulness  among  them.  I 
have  no  doubt  you  have  labored  with  this  motive  in  view.  The  Indians 
are  becoming  civilized  as  fast  or  faster  than  any  tribes  concerning  whom 
I  am  informed.  Their  anxiety  for  cattle,  hogs,  and  sheep  is  very  great ; 
leading  them  to  make  most  commendable  efforts  to  obtain  them,  and 
their  efforts  are  by  no  means  vain.  They  have  purchased  a  good  num 
ber  from  those  who  are  emigrating  to  this  country,  by  exchanging  their 
horses  for  cattle.  Thus,  while  their  horses  have  been  very  useful  to  the 
immigrants,  they  have  greatly  benefited  themselves.  They  are  enlarg 
ing  their  farms  yearly, — improving  much  in  fencing,  etc.  Quite  a  num 
ber  of  families  are  enabled  to  live  from  what  they  raise  on  their  farms, 
the  milk  of  their  cows,  and  their  beef.  There  is  perfect  quietness  ex 
isting  between  them,  and  I  have  no  doubt  this  state  of  things  will  con 
tinue  to  exist.  Many  things  that  are  interesting  might  be  written,  but 
time  does  not  allow  me  to  say  more  at  present. 

"  I  am,  dear  sir,  yours  with  the  greatest  respect, 

"  J.  B.  LlTTLEJOHN." 

Thus  far  the  Indians  have  kept  their  treaties  of  amity  with  me  aston 
ishingly  well,  and  it  is  thought  we  have  now  as  much  to  hope  as  fear 
from  them,  if  we  succeed  in  keeping  out  liquor,  which,  by  the  grace  of 
God,  not  a  few  of  us  arc  resolved  to  do,  though  we  do  not  pass  un 
opposed,  nor  slightly  opposed ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  that  most  salu 
tary  liquor  law,  and  the  hearty  co-operation  of  some  of  the  friends  of 
temperance  with  your  agent,  liquor  would  have  already  made  ruinous 
havoc  among  us. 

The  Methodist  Mission,  though  we  have  not  agreed  on  all  subjects, 
has  behaved  very  properly  on  this.  "And  to  it,  in  connection  with  the 
Honorable  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  will  the  colony  be  lastingly  in 
debted  for  its  commendable  efforts. 

Since  my  first  arrival,  I  have  not  received  a  line  from  the  department 
save  my  last  year's  report.  As  my  condition  is  peculiar,  and  not  a  lit 
tle  embarrassing,  I  should  feel  greatly  obliged  for  an  expression  and 
further  instruction  from  the  department.  I  have  had,  as  may  well  be 
judged,  much  to  contend  with,  in  the  midst  of  lawless  Indians  of  so 
many  different  tribes,  and  lawless  whites  of  so  many  nations, — some 
bred  upon  old  whale-ships,  others  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  hundreds 
on  the  frontiers  of  Missouri.  I  have  at  times  waded  in  deep  perplexing 
difficulties,  but  am  now  greatly  relieved  by  the  colonial  government, 
which  as  yet  is  well  administered.  By  reason  of  this  I  now  have  less 


FIRST  PROHIBITORY  LIQUOR  LAW.  393 

.to  do,  and  sail  in  smoother  seas,  meeting  with  less  opposition  than 
heretofore,  my  proper  official  relations  toward  the  whites  and  Indians 
being  better  understood. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  etc., 

E.  WHITE, 

Sub- Agent  Indian  Affairs,  W.  R.  M. 
Hon.  J.  M.  PORTER, 

Secretary  of  War,  Washington 


An  Act  to  prohibit  the  Manufacture  and  Sale  of  Ardent  Spirits. 

Whereas  the  people  of  Oregon,  now  occupying  one  of  the  most  beau 
tiful  and  interesting  portions  of  the  globe,  are  placed  in  the  most  critical 
and  responsible  position  ever  tilled  by  men,  owing,  as  they  do,  import 
ant  duties  to  themselves,  to  their  country,  to  posterity,  and  to  mankind, 
as  the  founders  of  a  new  government  and  a  young  nation ;  and  whereas 
the  introduction,  distillation,  or  sale  of  ardent  spirits,  under  the  circum 
stances  in  which  we  are  placed,  would  bring  withering  ruin  upon  the 
prosperity  and  prospects  of  this  interesting  and  rising  community,  by 
involving  us  in  idle  and  dissolute  habits,  inviting  hither  swarms  of  the 
dissipated  inhabitants  of  other  countries,  checking  immigration,  destroy 
ing  the  industry  of  the  country,  bringing  upon  us  the  swarms  of  savages 
now  in  our  midst,  interrupting  the  orderly  and  peaceable  administration 
of  justice,  and,  in  a  word,  producing  and  perpetuating  increasing  and 
untold  miseries  that  no  mind  can  rightly  estimate ;  therefore, 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Legislative  Committee  of  Oregon  as  follows : — 

SECTION  1.  That  if  any  person  shall  hereafter  import  or  introduce  any 
ardent  spirits  into  Oregon,  with  intent  to  sell,  barter,  or  trade  the  same, 
and  shall  offer  the  same  for  sale,  barter,  or  trade,  he  shall  be  fined  the 
sum  of  fifty  dollars  for  each  and  every  such  offense,  which  may  be  re 
covered  by  indictment  or  by  trial  before  a  justice  of  the  peace,  without 
the  form  of  pleading. 

SEC.  2.  That  if  any  person  shall  hereafter  sell,  barter,  or  trade  any 
ardent  spirits  of  any  kind  whatever,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  any  per 
son  within  Oregon,  he  shall  forfeit  and  pay  the  sum  of  twenty  dollars  for 
each  and  every  such  sale,  barter,  or  trade,  to  be  recovered  by  indict 
ment  in  the  Circuit  Court,  or  before  a  justice  of  the  peace,  without  the 
form  of  pleading. 

SEC.  3.  That  if  any  person  shall  hereafter  establish  or  carry  on  any 
manufactory  or  distillery  of  ardent  spirits  in  Oregon,  he  shall  be  subject 
to  be  indicted  before  the  Circuit  Court  as  for  a  nuisance ;  and  if  con 
victed,  he  shall  be  fined  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars,  and  the  court 


394:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

shall  issue  an  order  to  the  sheriff,  directing  him  to  seize  and  destroy  the 
distilling  apparatus,  which  order  the  sheriff  shall  execute. 

SEC.  4.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  all  sheriffs,  judges,  justices,  con 
stables,  and  other  officers,  when  they  have  reason  to  believe  that  this  act 
has  been  violated,  to  give  notice  thereof  to  some  justice  of  the  peace  or 
judge  of  a  court,  who  shall  immediately  issue  his  warrant  and  cause  the 
offending  party  to  be  arrested,  and,  if  such  officer  has  jurisdiction  to  try 
such  case,  shall  proceed  to  try  such  offender  without  delay,  and  give 
judgment  accordingly  ;  but,  if  such  officer  shall  not  have  jurisdiction  to 
try  the  case,  he  shall,  if  the  party  be  guilty,  bind  him  over  to  appear 
before  the  next  Circuit  Court  of  the  proper  county. 

SEC.  5.  That  all  sales,  barters,  or  trades,  made  under  color  of  gifts  or 
otherwise,  with  intent  to  evade  this  act,  shall  be  deemed  a  violation  of 
the  same,  and  all  fines  and  penalties  recovered  under  this  act  shall  go 
into  the  general  treasury,  and  all  officers  receiving  the  same  shall  pay 
over  to  the  sheriff,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  pay  the  same  into  the 
treasury. 

SEC.  6.  That  this  act  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  prevent  any  prac 
ticing  physician  from  selling  such  liquors  for  medicine,  not  to  exceed 
one  gallon  at  one  time. 

SEC.  7.  That  the  clerk  shall  make  out  a  copy  of  this  act  and  put  the 
same  up  in  Oregon  City  as  early  as  practicable. 

SEC.  8.  That  this  act  shall  take  effect  within  sixty  days  from  and 
after  its  passage. 

Passed  24th  June,  1844.  M.  M.  McCAKYER,  Speaker. 

Attest :  J.  E.  LONG,  Clerk. 

An  Act  to  provide  for  Ways  and  Means. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  legislative  Committee  of  Oregon  as  follows : — 

SECTION  1.  That  in  order  to  raise  a  revenue  for  the  purpose  of  defray 
ing  the  expenses  of  the  government,  there  shall  be  levied  and  collected 
a  tax  of  one-eighth  of  one  per  cent,  upon  the  following  property,  at  a 
fair  valuation,  to  wit :  All  merchandise  brought  into  this  country  for 
sale ;  improvements  in  town  lots  ;  mills ;  pleasure-carriages ;  clocks  ; 
watches ;  horses  ;  mules  ;  cattle  and  hogs. 

SEC.  2.  Every  male  citizen  over  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  being  a 
descendant  of  a  white  man,  shall  be  subject  to  pay  a  poll-tax  of  fifty 
cents. 

SEC.  3.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  collector  of  revenue  to  require 
of  each  and  every  merchant  of  Oregon  to  give  him  a  statement  of  the 
amount  of  all  merchandise  on  hand,  in  writing,  to  be  stated  upon  oath 
or  affirmation,  which  oath  or  affirmation  the  collector  shall  administer ; 


PRIMITIVE   TRIAL.  395 

and  said  collector  shall  collect  and  receipt  for  the  tax  upon  such  mer 
chandise,  which  receipt  shall  serve  said  merchant  for  a  license  for  the 
next  year,  commencing  from  the  time  given ;  and  that,  when  a  mer 
chant  shall  wish  to  renew  his  license,  he  shall  give  a  similar  statement 
of  all  merchandise  received  by  him  for  sale  in J  the  preceding  twelve 
months,  and  the  collector  shall  only  require  him  to  pay  tax  upon  the 
amount  of  said  imports. 

SEC.  4.  That  any  person  refusing  to  pay  tax,  as  in  this  act  required, 
shall  have  no  benefit  of  the  laws  of  Oregon,  and  shall  be  disqualified 
from  voting  at  any  election  in  this  country. 

SEC.  5.  That  the  sheriff  shall  serve  as  ex  officio  collector  of  the  rev 
enue,  for  which  he  shall  receive,  as  a  compensation  for  his  services,  ten 
per  cent,  upon  all  moneys  collected  as  revenue. 

SEC.  6.  That  the  sheriff,  before  entering  upon  the  duties  of  his  office 
as  collector  of  the  revenue,  shall  enter  into  bond,  with  two  or  more  good 
and  sufficient  securities,  in  a  sum  not  less  than  five  nor  more-  than  ten  . 
thousand  dollars,  to  be  approved  by  the  executive,  which  approval 
shall  be  written  upon  the  back  of  said  bond,  and  the  said  collector's 
bond  shall  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  court. 

SEC.  7.  That  the  collector  shall  pay  over  to  the  treasury,  on  the  first 
Monday  in  each  and  every  month  in  the  year,  all  moneys  that  may  be 
in  his  hands,  and  get  the  treasurer's  receipt  therefor. 

SEC.  8.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  tribunal  transacting  county 
business  to  require  the  collector  to  settle  with  said  court  at  each  and 
every  regular  term  of  the  court  in  Clackamas  County. 

SEC.  9.  The  collector  of  the  revenue  shall  make  full  payment  into  the 
treasury  on  or  before  the  first  Monday  in  December  in  each  year. 

SEC.  10.  The  revenue  of  Oregon  shall  be  collected  in  specie  or  avail 
able  orders  on  solvent  merchants  in  Oregon. 

SEC.  11.  That  all  acts  and  parts  of  acts  contrary  to  this  act  be,  and 
the  same  are  hereby,  repealed. 

SEC.  12.  This  act  to  take  effect  from  and  after  its  passage. 

M.  M.  McCAKVER,  Speaker. 
Attest :  J.  E.  LONG,  Secretary. 

Oregon    Territory,     Tualatin    District,    United    States    of  America, 
May  1,  1844. 

Charles  E.  Pickett,  plaintiff,  in  the  name  of  Oregon  Territory,  threat 
ening  to  incense  the  Indians,  against  Saul,  a  man  of  color. 
Complainant's  oath  and  warrant   issued,  directed  to  J.  L.   Meek, 

sheriff,  and  summons  for  three  witnesses,  viz. :  James  Conner,  William 

Hill,  and  Mr.  Bird. 


396  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


3.  —  Sheriff  made  his  return  with  defendant  and  witnesses,  and 
jury  of  good  and  lawful  men,  viz.,  Philip  Foster,  W.  C.  Dement,  J.  W. 
Nesmith,  John  McCaddan,  C.  Spencer,  and  S.  W.  Moss,  being  duly 
sworn,  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty  of  the  charges  alleged  to  him,  and 
signed  their  names,  viz.  :  Philip  Foster,  J.  W.  Nesmith,  William  C. 
Dement,  John  McCaddan,  Chauncey  Spencer,  and  S.  W.  Moss. 

Two  witnesses,  viz.,  William  Hill  and  Mr.  Bird,  of  lawful  age,  being 
duly  sworn,  did  depose  and  say  :  that  the  threats  in  the  deposition  of 
Charles  E.  Pickett  were  correct;  and  that  the  Indians  had  come  in  a 
menacing  manner  ;  and  that  Saul  said  he  would  stand  for  the  Indians' 
rights  ;  and  that  he  (Saul)  was  armed  and  prepared  to  do  so;  and  that 
the  Indians  would  burn  and  destroy  his  house  and  property.  The 
charges  being  of  a  higher  character  than  the  Oregon  laws  have  cogni 
zance  of,  judgment  is,  that  the  United  States  sub-Indian  agent,  Dr. 
Elijah  White,  is  the  proper  officer  to  take  cognizance  of  him  ;  and  he, 
Saul,  a  man  of  color,  be  forthwith  delivered  into  said  agent's  hand  ; 
which  was  forthwith  done. 

ROBERT  MOORE,  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

The  criminal  was  received  and  kept  in  custody  for  some  weeks  ;  but 
having  no  prison-house  or  jail  to  lodge  him  in,  and  the  captain  abso 
lutely  declining  taking  him  on  board  his  vessel,  after  the  storm  had 
blow^n  over  I  suffered  and  encouraged  him  to  leave  this  place,  and  stop 
with  one  of  the  mission  families  for  the  present,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia. 

Though  unsuccessful  in  getting  employment  as  I  had  hoped,  he  re 
mains  in  that  vicinity  with  his  Indian  wife  and  family,  conducting,  as 
yet,  in  a  quiet  manner,  but  doubtless  ought  to  be  transported,  together 
with  every  other  negro,  being  in  our  condition  dangerous  subjects. 

Until  we  have  some  further  means  of  protection,  their  immigration 
ought  to  be  prohibited.  Can  this  be  done  ? 

E.  WHITE,  Sub-  Agent. 


TERRITORY  OF  OREGON,        ) 
DISTRICT  OF  TUALATIN.  \ss' 


Charles  E.  Pickett,  being  duly  sworn,  says,  that  Saul  (a  man  of 
color),  of  said  Territory,  has  threatened  to  incense  the  Indians  against 
his  person  and  property,  to  destroy  the  same ;  and  that  he,  the  said 
Charles  E.  Pickett,  verily  believes  that,  unless  measures  are  taken  to 
prevent  him,  there  are  sufficient  grounds  to  apprehend  that  he  will 
carry  those  threats  into  execution. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  this  1st  day  of  May,  1844,  before  me, 

ROBERT  MOORE,  J.  P. 


INDIANS  DISCOURAGED.  397 

We,  the  jury,  find  the  prisoner  guilty  of  the  charges  alleged  against 
him.  PHILIP  FOSTER, 

J.  W.  NESMITH, 
WM.  C.  DEMENT, 
JOHN  McCADDAN. 
CHAUNCEY  SPENCEK. 
S.  W.  Moss. 


OKEGON,  WALLAMET  VALLEY,  ) 
April  4,  1845.       i" 

*  *  *  Starting  too  late,  and  the  winter  rains  setting  in  earlier  than 
usual,  subjected  the  immigrants  to  incredible  suffering  and  hardships, 
especially  from  the  Dalles  of  the  Columbia  down  to  the  Wallamet 
Valley ;  but  our  early  and  delightful  spring  is  exerting  a  cheering  and 
most  salutary  influence  upon  their  hitherto  depressed  spirits.  They 
have,  bee-like,  been  hived  up  in  Oregon  City  during  the  winter,  and 
are  now  swarming,  to  the  entire  satisfaction  .of  the  iirst  occupants  of 
the  hive,  it  not  being  wide  and  large  enough  for  such  an  unexpected 
increase.  The  last  immigration,  numbering  about  a  thousand,  are  gen 
erally  pleased  with  the  country,  and  are  setting  about  their  spring 
work  with  becoming  spirit  and  fortitude. 

The  Indians  of  this  lower  country,  whose  national  honor  arid  dignity 
are  laid  in  the  dust,  are  looking  upon  the  rapid  growth  and  increased 
strength  of  the  whites  with  sorrowful  countenances  and  sad  hearts. 
The  present  state  of  things  between  us  and  them  is  peculiar,  critical, 
unenviable,  and  dangerous,  at  least,  so  far  as  peace  and  property  are 
concerned. 

For  instance,  in  proof:  Soon  after  I  sent  my  last  dispatches,  the  chief 
of  the  Tualatin  Plains,  whose  orderly  conduct  and  that  of  his  clan  did 
honor  to  the  Nez  Perce  laws,  and  the  engagement  we  had  mutually 
entered  into,  called  on  me,  desiring  my  offices  in  procuring  the  mending 
of  his  gun.  This  being  done,  he  invited  me  to  come  and  see  him  and 
his  people  ;  said  all  was  not  right  at  his  lodge  ;  his  tribe  was  divided, 
and  all  was  not  right ;  his  influence  was  waning,  and  some  of  his  people 
were  becoming  very  bitter  toward  the  Americans.  Observing  anxiety 
and  mental  reservation,  I  endeavored  to  draw  out  the  secret,  reminding 
him  of  the  frequent  communications  he  had  brought  me  from  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Clark  and  Griffin,  bearing  such  satisfactory  testimony  to  their 
previous  quiet,  orderly,  and  proper  conduct,  etc..  but  all  I  could  learn 
was,  "  Things  are  not  right  with  us,  and  we  are  miserable." 

The  camass,  their  principal  dependence  for  food,  was  cut  off  last 


398  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

season  by  reason  of  drought ;  and  the  deer  are  hunted  so  much  by  the 
late  hungry  western  immigrant  riflemen,  that  they  have  become  wild, 
poor,  and  few  in  number.  The  chief  left. 

A  few  days  after,  I  learned  they  had  killed  an  ox  and  ate  it,  belong 
ing  to  a  neighboring  white  man.  The  owner  was  excited,  and  applied 
to  one  of  the  executive  ;  a  proclamation  was  issued,  the  military  was 
called  out  (if  it  be  lawful  to  call  it  such),  and  ample  preparations  made 
to  avenge  this  national  insult,  and  seek  redress  for  this  astounding  loss. 
The  army  collected  upon  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river,  about  six  miles 
from  the  position  occupied  by  the  enemy,  talked  bravely,  long,  and 
loud,  but  the  river  was  a  little  too  high  to  cross  that  day  ;  appointed 
another,  the  river  being  lower ;  none  of  the  warriors  appeared  ;  nor 
could  the  executive,  or  owner,  simply  for  the  want  of  a  few  gallons  of 
alcohol,  obtain  the  necessary  assistance  to  avenge  the  horrid  wrong, 
and  perform  a  brilliant  military  exploit.  The  chief,  in  his  embarrass 
ment  and  distress,  came  to  me  as  usual  for  sympathy  and  succor.  My 
coldness  and  look  of  severity  (for  which  Heaven  forgive  me!)  keenly 
afflicted  him.  After  a  deep  sigh  and  painful  pause,  peculiar  to  a 
wounded  or  injured  Indian,  he  slowly  rose,  gently  smiting  his  breast, 
and  said,  "Dr.  White,  I  am  a  true  man,  and  carry  an  honest  heart.  Do 
you  remember  my  coming  to  get  my  gun  mended  last  fall  ?  Do  you 
remember  my  words,  that  all  was  not  right  with  our  people,  and  my  in 
viting  you  to  come  and  see  us?  We  had  just  before  killed  that  old  ox, 
and  were  then  eating  it."  I  inquired,  "Had  you  any  thing  to  do  with 
it  personally  ?"  "  Yes,  I  helped  to  kill  it,  and,  with  my  family,  took 
and  ate  one-half  of  the  animal.  You  saw  the  condition  of  my  gun ; — 
our  provisions  were  out;  I  and  others  had  hunted  for  two  days, — out 
hunger  was  great.  We  held  a  council ;  and,  hoping  for  success,  I 
promised,  on  condition  nothing  was  caught  till  the  setting  of  another  sun, 
we  would  kill  the  first  animal  we  met.  I  traveled  far,  and  wearied  my 
self  till  evening ;  shot  often  but  killed  nothing  ; — we  met  this  poor  old 
ox,  which  our  people  would  scorn  to  kill  or  eat  but  in  case  of  extreme 
hunger  ; — my  word  was  passed  to  my  people  ;  I  could  not  go  back  from 
my  word ;  I  helped  to  kill  and  butcher  the  ox,  and  joined  in  eating 
him ;  and  now  my  peace  is  gone.  I  am  ashamed  to  see  a  white  man's 
face  ;  they  look  cold  on  me  and  shake  the  head ; — I  can  not  bear  it — I 
can  not  live  so ;  I  come  to  you  to  help  me,  for  I  am  told  they  want  to 
kill  me.  I  do  not  want  such  feelings  to  exist  j  nor  do  I  want  to  be 
hunted  as  a  bear  or  wild  beast,  for  slaughter.  I  stand  here  a  wisher  of 
peace,  willing  to  have  you  dictate  the  terms ;  but  wish  to  have  it  re 
membered  that  we  were  distressed  with  hunger."  "  Suppose,"  said  I, 
w  the  owner  should  require  your  rifle  and  four  horses  ?"  "  You  stand  to 


DR.   WHITE'S   ACCOUNT  OF  KILLING   ELIJAH.  399 

judge  between  us,  and  I  shall  abide  your  decision."  "  But  you  have 
broken  your  engagement  and  forfeited  confidence,  and  I  fear  it  can  not 
be  settled,  and  some  think  you  have  killed  before."  "Dr.  White,  I  am 
a  true  man,  and  lie  not.  I,  nor  my  people,  can  not  be  so  accused  justly  ; 
this  is  injurious  ;  none  can  meet  my  face  and  say  it."  I  wrote,  through 
him,  to  the  owner,  praying,  as  it  was  the  first  offense  so  far  as  we  had 
the  least  evidence,  and  especially  in  view  of  our  critical  situation  and  his 
general  good  behavior,  that  he  would  fully  indemnify  himself;  and 
then,  in  view  of  what  I  knew  of  the  condition  of  his  gun,  and  the 
probability  that  it  was  induced  by  hunger,  to  settle  it ;  and  requested 
him  to  assure  the  chief  that  he  was  convinced  from  my  letter  and  all 
the  circumstances,  in  connection  with  his  past  good  conduct,  that  it 
must  have  been  brought  about  by  hunger. 

The  advice  was  rejected,  as  the  laws  of  the  organization  now  had 
cognizance  of  the  offense,  and  he  wished  to  see  them  faithfully  enforced. 
Public  opinion  became  divided,  and  no  judicial  expression  being  made, 
and  the  poor  chief  becoming  excessively  tired  of  being  held  by  public 
opinion  in  durance  vile,  came  to  see  me  a  second  time.  I  wrote  again, 
and  learned  it  was  settled  by  the  chief  and  his  people  paying  his  rifle 
and  eight  horses.  If  this  be  correct  (as  I  fear  it  is),  I  abominate  the 
act  and  dread  its  prejudicial  influence. 

Week  before  last  a  hungry  and  mischievous  lodge  killed  a  cow.  They 
were  pursued  by  a  party  of  whites,  overtaken,  and,  in  attempting  to 
take  them,  the  Indians  tired  upon  the  whites,  killing  one  horse,  and 
wounded  another.  The  fire  was  returned ;  one  Indian  killed,  and  a 
second  wounded.  Thus  ended  this  affair,  which  creates  very  little  ex 
citement  among  whites  or  Indians. 

The  most  painful  circumstance  that  has  occurred  lately,  transpired 
last  fall  at  California.  The  Cayuses,  Wallawallas,  and  some  of  the 
chiefs  of  the  Spokans,  entered  upon  the  hazardous  but  grand  and  import 
ant  enterprise  of  going  directly  through  the  Indian  country  to  California, 
with  a  view  of  exchanging  their  beaver,  deer,  and  elk  skins,  together 
with  their  surplus  horses,  for  neat  stock.  As  they  had  to  travel  through 
an  extensive  country  inhabited  by  the  savage  and  warlike  Klamaths 
and  Shastas,  where  Smith,  Turner,  and  so  many  other  white  parties  had 
been  defeated,  we  are  at  a  loss  to  conclude  whether  their  valor  is  more 
to  be  commended  than  the  rashness  of  their  stupendous  enterprise  to  be 
censured.  They  were  well  mounted  and  equipped ;  the  chiefs  clad  in 
English  costume,  and  the  residue  attired  in  dressed  skins,  molded 
according  to  their  several  tastes.  The  journey  of  seven  or  eight  hun 
dred  miles,  after  some  fighting,  watching,  and  much  fatigue,  was  accom 
plished,  and  their  numbers  not  lessened. 


400  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Taking  their  own  statement,  their  reception  was  cordial,  and  the 
impression  made  upon  the  whites  by  these  distant  and  half-civilized 
people,  upon  an  errand  so  commendable,  was  most  favorable.  The 
treating  and  salutations  being  over,  the  trade  commenced  in  good 
faiih,  and  to  mutual  satisfaction.  All  moved  on  well,  till,  on  an  excur 
sion  to  procure  elk  and  deer  skins,  they  met  a  marauding  band  of 
mountain  freebooters  ;  fought  them,  and,  being  victorious,  took  a  prize 
of  twenty-two  horses,  all  previously  stolen  from  the  whites. 

On  returning  to  the  settlements,  the  Spaniards  laid  claim  to  the  ani 
mals.     The  chiefs  remonstrated,  and  said,  agreeably  to  their  customs, 
the  horses  were  theirs.     The  Spaniards  explained  their  laws,  and  showed 
the  animals  not  to  be  vented,  i.  e.,  bearing  a  transfer  mark,  and  told  the 
Indians  they  must  give  them  to  the  rightful  owners,  as  all  Americans 
and  others  did.     The  Indians  seemed  grieved  and  rather  incensed ; 
said  in  their  country  six  nations  of  people  were  on  terms  of  amity,  and 
that  in  case  any  one  of  these  six  nations  stole  a  horse,  the  tribe  was 
responsible  for  the  safe  delivery  of  that  animal  to  the  rightful  owner  ; 
but  in  case  the  Blackfeet  or  other  formidable  enemy  steal  or  capture, 
the  property  is  supposed   Io3t,  without  redemption  ;  and  as  we  have 
captured  these  horses  at  the  hazard  of  our  lives,  from  your  long  openly 
declared   enemies,  we   think  they  ought  in  justice  to  be  ours.     The 
Spaniards   condescended  to  offer  ten  cows  for  the  redemption  of  the 
horses ;  the  chief  not  replying,  five  more  were  added  ;  he  still  remain 
ing  moody  and  without  replying,  the  negotiation  unhappily  broke  off. 
A  day  or  two  after,  an  American,  seeing  his  mule  among  the  number 
captured,  told  the  Indians  it  was  his  mule,  and  have  it  he  would.  "  Will 
you?"  said  a  young  chief  by  the  name  of  Elijah  Heading;  and  stepping 
into  the  lodge,  he  immediately  loaded  his  rifle,  came  out  and  observed 
significantly,  "  Go  now  and  take  your  mule."     The  American,  much 
alarmed,  remarked,  "  I  hope  you  are  not  going  to  kill  me."     "  No  !  I 
am  going  to  shoot  yonder  eagle"  (perched  upon  a  neighboring  oak). 
Not  liking  the  appearances,  the  man  left  without  attempting  to  obtain 
his  mule.     A  day  or  two  after,  the  Indians  left  their  encampment  and 
walked   down  to  the  fort  of  Captain  Sutter  to  church ;  and  from  the 
best  information  we  have  obtained  (all  being  ex  parte),  the  following 
appears  to  be  near  the  truth  :  After  service  Elijah   was  invited  into 
another  apartment,  taking  with  him  his  uncle,  a  brave  and   sensible 
chief  of  the  age  of  five  and  forty ;  while  there,  in  an  unarmed  and  de 
fenseless  condition,  they  commenced  menacing  him  for  things  alleged 
against  the  river  Indians  of  this  upper  country,  in  which  none  of  them 
had  any  participation ;  called  them  indiscriminately  dogs,  thieves,  etc. 
This  American  then  observed  :  "  Yesterday  you  were  going  to  kill  me  ; 


DR.   WHITE'S  REPORT.  401 

now  you  must  die  " — drawing  a  pistol.  Elijah,  who  had  been  five  or 
six  years  at  the  Methodist  Mission,  and  had  learned  to  read,  write,  and 
speak  English  respectably,  said,  deliberately  :  "  Let  me  pray  a  little, 
first ;"  and  kneeling  down,  at  once  commenced  ;  and  while  invoking  the 
Divine  mercy,  was  shot  through  the  heart  or  vitals  dead  upon  the  spot. 
Every  measure,  as  the  Indians  say,  was  taken  to  cut  them  all  off  by  the 
Spaniards,  who  brought  out  the  cannon,  with  other  fire-arms,  and  hotly 
pursued  them,  and  tried  to  prevent  their  escape  by  checking  and  inter 
rupting  their  passage  across  the  ferries,  etc.  But  at  length  they  all 
arrived  safely,  after  manifest  suffering,  leaving  the  herds  they  had  paid 
for  in  California. 

They  met  three  Americans  on  the  way  as  they  left  the  California 
settlements  and  had  them  in  their  power,  but  instead  of  revenging  the 
death  of  Elijah,  they  mounted  each  on  a  horse  of  their  own,  and  sent 
them  on,  telling  them  to  go  to  the  fort  and  acquaint  the  people  that 
they  could  not  kill  innocent  white  people  in  their  power  and  lodge. 

Taking  for  truth  an  Indian  report,  this  horrible  affair  creates  consid 
erable  excitement,  and  there  is  some  danger  of  its  disturbing  the 
friendly  relation  that  has  hitherto  existed  between  us  here,  and  all 
those  formidable  tribes  in  the  region  of  Wallawalla  and  Snake  River. 
They  had  no  sooner  arrived,  than  Ellis,  my  interpreter,  the  high  chief 
of  the  ]STez  Perces,  was  deputed  to  come  down  and  learn  our  opinions 
regarding  the  affair.  They  could  not  have  sent  a  better  agent,  the 
whites  all  giving  him  a  handsome  and  cordial  reception.  From  Walla- 
walla,  he  accompanied  Mr.  Grant,  the  chief  trader  at  Fort  Hall,  down 
to  Vancouver.  He  called  on  Dr.  McLaughlin,  whose  great  experience 
and  address  were  serviceable.  He  spoke  touchingly  of  the  violent  death 
of  his  own  son  upon  the  northwest  coast,  and  left  the  impression  that  he 
could  not  avoid  sympathizing  with  the  father  and  friends  of  the  de 
ceased  young  chief.  Mr.  Douglas,  too,  an  early  friend,  patron,  and 
favorite  of  Ellis,  aided  much  in  convincing  him  that  all  the  good  and 
virtuous  could  not  avoid  the  most  painful  regrets  at  so  melancholy  a 
circumstance,  which  must  have  occurred  by  reason  of  the  difference  in 
their  customs  or  laws,  imperfectly  understanding  each  other,  or  from 
some,  as  he  would  charitably  hope,  excusable  circumstance. 

Under  the  influence  of  this  salutary  language  and  interview,  Ellis 
arrived  at  my  residence,  in  Wallamet,  about  the  1st  instant,  having,  a 
short  time  before,  got  a  hasty  communication,  written  in  excitement, 
from  Dr.  Whitman,  who  was  under  serious  apprehensions  that  it  might 
be  avenged  upon  some  of  the  whites  of  the  upper  country.  Be  assured 
I  was  happy  to  see  this  my  most  faithful  friend  and  interpreter.  Sir, 
pardon  me  for  saying — isolated  as  we  are  here,  agitated  as  we  have 

26 


402  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

a  thousand  timos  been  by  faithless  savages  and  still  more  faithless 
whites,  responsible,  yet  powerless  and  defenseless,  in  our  unsettled  state 
of  things — to  meet  with  this  honest  man,  this  real  friend,  though  an 
Indian,  gave  me  hearty  pleasure. 

His  thorough  education  at  Red  River  molded  him  into  more  of  the 
wrhite  man  than  Indian.  His  prudence  and  good  management  with  his 
tribe  sanctioned  the  choice  that  had  been  made,  and  all  the  whites 
spoke  handsomely  of  his  kind  offices  and  obliging  deportment,  while 
immigrating  through  his  country.  Being  satisfied  of  the  safety  and 
policy,  I  feasted  him,  and  took  at  once  unobserved  measures  to  have  him 
invited  to  every  respectable  place  abroad,  where  the  ladies  and  gentle 
men  received  him  so  cordially,  and  feasted  him  so  richly  and  delicately, 
that  he  almost  forgot  the  object  of  his  embassy,  and,  I  verily  believe, 
thought  extremely  highly  of  the  whites  of  Wallamet,  however  ill  he 
might  have  thought  of  the  conduct  of  the  Californians. 

Being  anxious  to  make  this  visit  useful  to  him  and  his  people,  as  well 
as  pleasant,  after  spending  a  few  days  in  visiting  the  schools,  as  well  as 
the  principal  inhabitants  and  places  of  interest,  I  showed  him  my  little 
library ;  told  him  to  make  himself  at  home ;  put  on  my  farmer's  garb 
and  commenced  working  upon  my  plantation.  He  soon  came  out, 
accompanied  by  a  wealthy  cousin,  and  begged  for  tools  to  assist  me.  I 
loaned  them,  and  found  he  was  much  at  home  in  their  use.  He  spent 
with  me  a  sufficient  length  of  time  to  convince  me  of  the  truth  reported 
concerning  his  cheerfulness  in  labor,  as  well  as  bis  knowledge,  applica 
tion,  and  assiduity  in  business.  He  spoke  sensibly  of  the  advantages 
of  industry,  and  the  astonishing  change  that  had  been  effected  among  his 
people  by  the  cultivation  of  the  soil ;  assured  me  that  every  family  or 
lodge  now  raised  an  abundance  for  home  consumption,  besides  having  con 
siderable  quantities  to  barter  with  the  whites.  He  says  he  raised,  himself, 
the  past  season,  six  hundred  bushels  of  peas,  with  a  fine  crop  of  wheat,  po 
tatoes,  beans,  etc. ;  spoke  properly  of  its  moral  and  social  effects.  Wars 
were  no  longer  talked  of,  and  the  chase  was  nearly  abandoned  ;  the  book 
and  the  Bible  consumed  their  leisure  moments.  Polygamy,  once  so  com 
mon,  was  now  done  away  with,  except  in  two  solitary  cases,  and  not  a 
lodge  of  his  people  but  observed  the  Sabbath,  and  regularly  attended 
morning  and  evening  devotion.  This  was  only  corroborative  of  what  I 
had  previously  heard  from  other  sources.  He  spent  ten  days  with  me 
in  the  most  cheerful,  agreeable,  and  profitable  manner,  and  at  the  close 
I  felt  myself  the  happier  and  better  for  the  visit;  nor  did  I  marvel  that 
his  influence  was  increasing  and  the  prospects  of  his  people  brightening. 
Pardon  me,  for,  in  thinking  of  his  visit  and  dwelling  upon  his  excel 
lences,  I  had  like  to  have  forgotten  his  agency.  Learning  from  Dr. 


APPREHENDED   DANGER  403 

Whitman,  who  resides  in  their  midst,  how  much  they  were  all  excited 
by  reason  of  the  treacherous  and  violent  death  of  this  educated  and 
accomplished  young  chief,  and  perhaps  more  especially  by  the  loss  they 
had  sustained ;  and  then,  after  suffering  so  many  hardships  and  encoun 
tering  so  many  dangers,  losing  the  whole, — I  apprehended  there  might 
be  much  difficulty  in  adjusting  it,  particularly  as  they  lay  much  stress 
upon  the  restless  disaffected  scamps  late  from  Wallamet  to  California, 
loading  them  with  the  vile  epithets  of  "  dogs,"  u  thieves,"  etc.,  from 
which  they  believed,  or  affected  to,  that  the  slanderous  reports  of  our 
citizens  caused  all  their  loss  and  disasters,  and  therefore  held  us  respon 
sible.  He  assured  me  that  the  Cayuses,  Wallawallas,  Nez  Perces,  Spo- 
kans,  Ponderay?,  and  Snakes  were  all  on  terms  of  amity,  and  that  a 
portion  of  the  aggrieved  party  were  for  raising  about  two  thousand 
warriors  of  these  formidable  tribes  and  marching  to  California  at  once, 
and,  nobly  revenging  themselves  on  the  inhabitants  by  capture  and  plun 
der,  enrich  themselves  upon  the  spoils ;  others,  not  indisposed  to  the 
enterprise,  wished  first  to  learn  how  it  would  be  regarded  here,  and 
whether  we  would  remain  neutral  in  the  affair.  A  third  party  were 
for  holding  us  'responsible,  as  Elijah  was  killed  by  an  American,  and 
the  Americans  incensed  the  Spaniards.  Ellis  reminded  me  at  the  same 
time  of  the  ill-success  the  chiefs  met  with  in  trading  off  their  ten-dollar 
drafts  for  herds  with  the  immigrants ;  which  drafts  I  had  sent  up  by 
Mr.  Lee,  my  interpreter,  to  secure  peace  and  safety  while  the  immigrants 
were  passing  through  their  country,  the  year  before  so  many  having 
been  pillaged  and  robbed  of  their  effects,  through  the  inattention  of  the 
chiefs. 

Sir,  how  this  affair  will  end  is  difficult  to  conjecture ;  the  general  im 
pression  is,  that  it  will  lead  to  the  most  disastrous  consequences  to  the 
Californians  themselves,  or  to  the  colony  of  the  Wallamet  Valley.  My 
principal  fear  is,  that  it  will  result  in  so  much  jealousy,  prejudice,  and 
disaffection,  as  to  divert  their  minds  from  the  pursuit  of  knowledge, 
agriculture,  and  the  means  of  civilization,  which  they  have  been  for 
such  a  length  of  time  so  laudably  engaged  in  obtaining. 

Should  this  be  the  case  with  these  numerous,  brave,  and  formidable 
tribes,  the  results  to  them,  and  to  us,  would  be  indeed  most  calamitous. 
To  prevent  such  a  result,  I  wrote,  through  Ellis,  a  long,  cordial,  and 
rather  sympathizing  letter  to  the  chiefs  of  these  tribes,  assuring  them 
that  I  should  at  once  write  to  the  governor  of  California,  to  Captain 
Sutter,  and  to  our  great  chiefs  respecting  this  matter.  With  a  view  to 
divert  attention,  and  promote  good  feeling,  I  invited  all  the  chiefs  to 
come  down  in  the  fall,  before  the  arrival  of  the  immigrants,  in  company 
with  Dr.  Whitman  and  Mr.  Spalding,  and  confer  with  me  upon  this 


404  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

subject ;  at  the  same  time,  as  they  had  been  so  unfortunate,  to  bring 
along  their  ten-dollar  drafts,  and  exchange  them  with  me  for  a  cow  and 
calf  each,  out  of  my  own  herds.  I  likewise  wrote  them,  that  on  condi 
tion  they  would  defer  going  to  California  till  the  spring  of  1847,  and 
each  chief  assist  me  to  the  amount  of  two  beaver  skins,  to  get  a  good 
manual  labor  literary  institution  established  for  the  English  education 
of  their  sons  and  daughters  (a  subject  they  feel  the  deepest  interest 
in),  I  would  use  every  measure  to  get  the  unhappy  affair  adjusted; 
and,  as  a  token  of  my  regard  for  them,  would,  from  my  private  funds, 
give  the  chiefs  five  hundred  dollars,  to  assist  them  in  purchasing 
young  cows  in  California.  I  likewise  proffered,  as  they  are  so  eager 
for  it,  to  start  the  English  school  next  fall,  by  giving  them  the  services 
of  Mr.  Lee,  my  interpreter,  for  four  months,  commencing  in  November 
next. 

Ellis  more  than  properly  appreciated  my  motives  and  proffers,  and 
said  he  was  of  the  full  belief  the  chiefs  would  accede  to  my  proposition  ; 
spoke  of  the  importance  of  the  English  school,  and  of  the  strong  and 
general  desire  to  obtain  it.  He  left  in  high  hopes  of  a  continuance  of 
peace  and  onward  prosperity  to  his  people. 

A  few  days  later  brought  me  into  another  excitement  and  difficulty 
at  Vancouver.  Two  young  men,  named  in  McLaughlin's  communica 
tion  to  this  government  (a  copy  of  which,  marked  A,  together  with  a 
reply,  accompanies  these  dispatches),  crossed  the  Columbia  River,  and, 
unobserved,  in  the  midst  of  a  little  thicket  something  over  half  a  mile 
from  Fort  Vancouver,  felled  some  timber,  threw  up  a  few  logs  in  the 
shape  of  a  hut,  intending  soon  to  finish  it,  put  up  a  paper  upon  a  contig 
uous  tree,  stating  that  they  had  commenced  and  intended  to  establish  a 

claim  agreeably  with ;  here  the  note  ended.  Some  one  about  the 

establishment,  observing  the  paper  and  commencement  of  the  hut, 
reported  it  to  the  governor,  who  sent  down  at  once  and  had  all  the 
timber  removed  from  the  vicinity,  the  tree  felled,  and  that,  with  the 
paper  likewise,  removed.  They  had  hardly  cleared  the  ground  when 
the  claimants  arrived  with  a  surveyor,  and  commenced  surveying  off  a 
section  of  land,  embracing  the  post  first  commenced  upon.  They  were 
inquired  of,  at  the  instance  of  Governor  McLaughlin,  as  to  their  object 
and  intentions.  They  at  once  laid  down  the  chain,  dropped  all  business, 
and  walked  up  to  the  fort.  Several  respectable  and  influential  Ameri 
can  citizens  happened  to  be  present  on  business,  who,  with  myself, 
were  respectfully  invited  to  hear  the  discussion. 

Williamson,  a  modest  and  respectable  young  man,  demeaned  himself 
with  propriety ;  but  Alderman,  his  associate,  a  boisterous,  hare-brained 
young  fellow,  caused  me  (as  occasionally  others  do)  to  blush  for  Ameri- 


JUMPING  A   CLAIM.  405 

can  honor.  His  language  was  most  severe,  and,  but  for  the  sake  of 
the  country's  quiet,  could  not  have  been  endured ;  the  governor  and 
Mr.  Douglas  displaying  their  usual  calmness  and  forbearance.  I  heard 
the  discussion  for  two  hours;  and,  becoming  satisfied  that  no  possible 
good  could  grow  out  of  it,  remarked  that  with  the  cheerful  consent  of 
both  parties  I  would  give  my  sense  of  the  matter. 

Each  readily  consenting,  I  thought  best  to  come  up  on  the  blind 
side  of  Alderman  ;  treated  his  measures  with  less  severity,  and  himself 
with  more  consideration  and  respect,  than  he  anticipated ;  then  spoke 
of  Greenough's  construction  of  the  treaty  between  the  two  govern 
ments  (which  I  happened  to  have  with  me) ;  of  the  immense  district  of 
country  dependent  upon  this  establishment  for  supplies  in  beef,  pork, 
etc.,  and  as  evidence  that  they  had  no  more  land  contiguous  than  was 
necessary  for  their  purposes,  spoke  of  the  number  of  cattle  and  other 
stock  that  had  died  of  starvation  during  the  last  winter;  dwelt  upon 
the  importance  of  union  and  good  feeling  among  all  the  whites,  sur 
rounded  as  we  were  by  savages,  in  our  weak  and  defenseless  condition, 
and  especially  of  the  propriety  of  establishing  correct  precedents  in 
our  unsettled  state,  regarding  land  claims  ;  and,  without  advising  par 
ticularly  either  party,  took  my  seat. 

Williamson  and  Alderman  soon  manifested  a  desire  for  a  private 
interview,  which  resulted  in  a  suspension  of  hostilities  for  the  present, 
and  probably  an  abandonment  of  the  claim. 

Now,  my  dear  sir,  suffer  me  to  write  a  few  things  concerning  this 
country,  which  seemed  to  me  strongly  to  demand  the  speedy  attention 
of  the  members  of  our  government.  Take  fifty  men  from  the  colony, 
of  the  most  intelligence,  firmness,  and  prudence,  and  anarchy  and  con 
fusion  follow.  Suffer  a  free  introduction  of  ardent  spirits,  and  desola 
tion,  horror,  dismay,  and  bloodshed  ensue.  Never  were  a  people  more 
illy  prepared  for  self-government,  nor  more  unfavorably  circumstanced 
to  succeed, — aside  from  the  single  fact  of  the  absence  of  all  intoxicating 
drinks. 

Sir,  too  great  a  portion  of  our  population  comes  from  the  western 
suburbs  of  civilization,  for  one  moment's  safety  to  us  in  our  present  con 
dition.  I  know  not  but  I  have  as  much  patience  as  most  men,  but  am 
heartily  tired  of  this  state  of  things.  Nor  would  I  run  the  risk  again, 
by  land  and  water,  from  whites  and  savages,  for  the  safety  and  quiet 
ness  of  the  colony  and  country,  for  all  the  wealth  of  earth.  I  have  not 
shrunk  from  toil,  danger,  nor  hardships,  and  though  alone-handed  and 
unsustained,  black-balled  and  traduced,  astonishing  to  say,  my  measures 
have  yet  succeeded.  I  think  of  the  past  with  a  clear  conscience,  yet  at 
present,  at  peace  as  we  are,  I  look  upon  our  critical  condition  with  an 


406  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

anxious,  aching  heart,  feeling  that  the  members  of  our  government  err 
exceedingly  toward  their  citizens  in  Oregon. 

As  I  have  so  often  said  of  this  lower  country,  with  its  beauty,  excel 
lence  of  soil,  and  mildness  of  climate,  it  might  be  rendered  the  paradise 
of  earth ;  but,  sir,  every  thing  is  jeoparded  by  the  tardiness  of  our  govern 
ment  measures;  not  only  the  poor,  injured  natives,  but  the  whites  gen 
erally,  have  become  wearied  to  impatience  in  waiting  for  an  expression 
from  our  government,  and  disaffection,  with  a  want  of  confidence,  is 
taking  the  place  of  previous  warm  feeling  and  strong  attachment. 

I  regret  this  exceedingly,  but  feel  it  my  duty  to  speak  out  in  truth 
and  distinctness  upon  this  important  point.  I  have  said  and  done 
what  I  could  to  keep  up  confidence  and  hope  ;  but  already  demagogues 
are  haranguing  in  favor  of  independence,  and  using  the  most  disparag 
ing  language  regarding  the  measures  of  our  government  as  a  reason 
for  action.  These  are  but  the  beginnings,  and,  though  I  am  glad  to 
say  such  sentiments  do  not  generally  obtain,  yet  they  are  more  favor 
ably  listened  to  this  year  than  last;  their  natural  results  and  practical 
tendency  you  will  readily  perceive. 

Your  annual  report  of  1843  reached  me  only  a  few  days  since,  hav 
ing  been  broken  open  on  the  way,  then  put  into  the  hands  of  In 
dians,  and  forwarded  to  me  through  that  channel.  And  while  I  have 
to  regret  never  having  received  any  thing  from  your  pen,  be  assured  I 
am  not  insensible  to  the  honor  done  me,  in  speaking  as  you  did  of  my 
report,  through  yours  of  1843  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  I  feel  any 
kind  expression  from  home  the  more  sensibly,  from  the  torrent  of  oppo 
sition  I  have  been  forced  to  meet  and  contend  with  here ;  but  am  happy 
to  observe  that  my  influence  is  increasing,  and  my  measures  are  being 
better  understood  and  appreciated. 

Influence  here  is  most  important ;  I  felt  this  strikingly  a  few  weeks 
since.  Three  among  the  most  correct  and  sensible  men  of  the  colony 
formed  a  co-partnership  to  enter  largely  upon  the  brewery  business. 
They  had  already  taken  some  steps  ;  and  as  the  business  promised  to 
be  lucrative,  the  probabilities  were  against  me  in  attempting  to  dis 
suade  them  from  their  purpose.  I  visited  them,  labored  calmly,  hon 
estly,  and  faithfully,  and  felt  the  difference  dealing  or  talking  with 
men  of  sense  and  principle,  over  many  with  whom  I  have  to  do  in 
Oregon. 

The  interview  broke  up  most  agreeably,  not  an  unpleasant  sentence 
having  passed  ;  the  gentlemen  engaging  to  give  me  their  decision  very 
soon.  This  was  communicated  to  me  two  days  after,  in  a  delicate  and 
handsome  manner,  which  was  entirely  to  my  wishes,  the  business  being 
altogether  abandoned.  This  was  most  gratifying  to  me,  as  from  such 


REVISION  OF   ORGANIC   LAW. 

a  quarter  should  beer  be  introduced,  it  would  be  impossible  for  us  to 
prevent  the  introduction  of  stronger  drink  into  the  colony  and  coun 
try,  which,  of  all  others,  is  most  illy  prepared  to  receive  it. 

The  colony,  now  numbering  about  four  thousand,  is  in  a  most  flour 
ishing  state,  and  I  am  doubtful  if  any  like  number  are  more  pleased  or 
better  contented  in  our  wide  domain.  The  schools  of  the  country  dur 
ing  the  last  winter  have  been  well  sustained ;  I  have  contributed  to 
each,  as  was  necessary,  from  ten  to  fifteen  dollars,  to  pay  rents,  etc., 
and  to  encourage  them  forward  in  their  laudable  struggle  to  educate 
their  rising  families. 

I  attended  the  examination  of  the  Methodist  Institute  school  a  few 
weeks  since,  and  was  most  agreeably  impressed  regarding  the  insti 
tution. 

The  pleasant  deportment  and  improved  manners  of  the  young  ladies 
and  gentlemen  of  the  school,  saying  nothing  of  their  astonishing  ad 
vancement  in  the  different  departments  of  literature,  was  a  cause  of  the 
highest  gratification.  I  have  nowhere  attended  an  examination,  taking 
all  things  into  the  account,  more  creditable  to  the  principal  or  institu 
tion.  I  have  called  for  a  report,  but  am.  sorry  it  has  not  yet  come  to 
hand. 

The  branches  taught  are  rhetoric,  grammar,  geography,  arithmetic, 
reading,  writing,  and  spelling.  The  most  enlightened  and  best  disposed 
are  using  their  influence  to  strengthen  the  organization,  and  perfect  the 
laws  of  the  colony.  Many  are  favorable  to  the  adoption  of  a  constitu 
tion,  by  calling  a  convention  for  that  purpose  the  present  season. 
This  being  the  most  enlightened  sense,  and  meeting  with  little  opposi 
tion,  I  am  of  the  opinion  it  will  prevail.  Should  this  be  effected,  the 
constitution,  accompanied  with  a  petition,  will  probably  be  forwarded 
by  a  delegate  from  this  country  to  Washington  City  the  coming  winter. 
As  the  friends  of  the  constitution  generally  wish  best  to  the  country, 
and  desire  to  have  every  thing  so  conducted  as  not  to  embarrass,  but  to 
meet  with  acceptance  at  home,  I  am  solicited  to  be  said  delegate,  and 
represent  the  wants  of  Oregon.  A  circulating  medium  is  greatly 
needed ;  however,  the  enterprise  and  onward  march  of  this  people  can 
not  easily  be  repressed.  Through  the  auspices  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  almost  every  man,  requesting  and  needing  it,  is  helped  to 
sufficient  means  to  commence  upon  his  section  of  land ;  and,  certainly, 
by  far  the  greater  number  give  evidence  of  well-placed  confidence. 
The  prairies  are  dotted  over  with  houses,  and  the  fruitful  fields  are  spread 
ing  out  widely  all  around  us.  Moral  and  religious  influence,  I  regret 
to  say,  is  waning ;  yet  it  is  gratifying  to  observe  an  increasing  interest 
upon  the  subject  of  schools  and  education ;  and  I  am  happy  to  say 


408  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

we  hav.e  now  eleven  schools  this  side  the  mountains,  most  of  them 
small,  to  be  sure,  but  they  are  exerting  a  salutary  and  beneficial 
influence. 

Pardon  the  length  and  want  of  interest  of  my  report.  Did  n.ot  duty 
hold  me  here,  or  had  I  funds  appropriated  to  travel  abroad  to  explore 
this  delightful  region  of  surrounding  country,  from  what  I  learn  of 
vague  reports  I  have  little  doubt  but  much  interesting,  curious,  and 
important  information  might  be  collected.  But  here  I  am,  doomed  to 
sit,  watch,  and  sometimes  almost  fight  for  peace  between  whites  and 
Indians — the  question  of  right  and  wrong  becoming  more  and  more 
complicated  continually;  while  here,  allow  me  to  say,  the  settling  these 
difficulties  necessarily  costs  me  not  a  little.  I  believe  most  fully,  in 
making  a  settlement  with  an  Indian  or  tribe,  to  have  it  a  happy, 
earnest,  and  hearty  one ;  and,  in  order  to  effect  this,  they  require  a 
present  as  a  seal.  And,  sir,  this  is  my  principal  means  of  usefulness 
or  influence  over  these  poor,  and,  in  many  instances,  injured  natives. 
Their  seeming  confidence  and  regard  makes  one  the  more  patient  and 
cheerful  in  doing  for  them ;  nor  can  I  complain,  as  so  many  east  of  the 
mountains  have  been  obliged  to,  of  violated  faith  on  the  part  of  the 
Indians.  From  all  I  can  learn,  on  much  of  which  little  reliance  is  to 
be  placed,  there  appear  to  be  about  forty-two  thousand  Indians  in  the 
Territory,  allowing  it  to  extend  to  54°  40'  north  latitude. 

Mr.  Lee's  (my  interpreter)  report  accompanying  this  you  will  observe. 
I  would  have  accompanied  him  but  for  the  season  of  the  year,  and  the 
prevalence  of  the  dysentery,  which  is  sweeping  off  the  poor  natives  of 
this  lower  country.  This  gave  rise  to  Dr.  Long's  bill,  which,  I  hope,  will 
be  honored,  as  it  was  a  work  of  humanity  as  well  as  policy.  I  directed 
it,  as  I  could  not  possibly  attend  to  those  and  these  at  the  same  time, 
there  being  forty  rniles  between  us. 

I  hope,  Providence  permitting,  to  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you 
and  the  other  gentlemen  of  the  departments,  at  Washington,  in  a  few 
weeks,  or  months  at  longest,  after  this  reaches,  and  of  explaining  my 
accounts  and  reasons  for  expenditures. 

I  had  not  expected  to  draft  on  the  department  this  spring ;  but  there 
were  no  other  means  of  settling  with  Governor  McLaughlin,  for  the 
want  of  a  circulating  medium  through  which  to  operate. 

Inclosed  is  a  letter  from  Peter  H.  Burnett,  Esq.,  which  I  proposed 
forwarding  in  my  last  dispatches,  but  received  too  late  for  transmission. 

With  great  respect,  I  am,  dear  sir,  your  most  humble  and  obedient 
servant, 

ELIJAH  WHITE, 
Sub-Agent  Indian  Affairs,  W.  R.  M. 


REMARKABLE   LETTER.  409 

To  the  Citizens  of  Oregon  : 

GENTLEMEN, — We  take  the  liberty  of  informing  you  that  a  person 
named  "Henry  Williamson,"  some  time  about  the  15th  of  February, 
this  year,  took  the  liberty  of  erecting  on  the  premises  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  a  few  logs,  in  the  form  of  a  hut,  and  wrote  a  notice  upon 
an  adjoining  tree  that  he  had  taken  a  section  of  land  there.  This  was 
done  without  our  knowledge  or  consent,  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of 
a  house  occupied  by  one  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  servants,  and 
within  the  limits  of  their  improvements.  As  soon  as  we  were  informed 
of  that  proceeding,  we  had  the  tree  cut  down  and  the  logs  removed,  in 
order  to  prevent  any  future  difficulty  with  a  person  who  had,  in  a  man 
ner  so  unjustifiable,  intruded  on  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  premises. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  made  their  settlement  at  Fort  Van 
couver  under  the  authority  of  a  license  from  the  British  government, 
in  conformity  with  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States  of  America,  which  gives  them  the  right  of  occu 
pying  as  much  land  as  they  require  for  the  operations  of  their  business. 

On  the  faith  of  that  treaty,  they  have  made  a  settlement  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  Columbia  River ;  they  have  opened  roads  and  made 
other  improvements  at  a  great  outlay  of  capital ;  they  have  held  un 
molested  possession  of  their  improvements  for  many  years,  unquestioned 
by  the  public  officers  of  either  government,  who  have,  since  the  existence  - 
of  their  settlements,  repeatedly  visited  it ;  they  have  carried  on  business 
with  manifest  advantage  to  the  country  ;  they  have  given  the  protec 
tion  of  their  influence  over  the  native  tribes  to  every  person  who 
required  it,  without  distinction  of  nation  or  party ;  and  they  have 
afforded  every  assistance  in  their  power  toward  developing  the  re 
sources  of  the  country  and  promoting  the  industry  of  its  inhabitants. 

The  tract  of  land  they  occupy,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Columbia 
River,  is  indispensable  to  them  as  a  range  for  their  flocks  and  herds,  but 
otherwise  of  little  value,  being  in  part  inundated  every  summer  by  the 
waters  of  the  Columbia,  and  in  part  unimprovable  forest  land. 

Occupying  the  said  tract  of  land  by  the  authority  of  law,  and  under 
the  protection  of  the  British  government,  they  can  not  submit  to  the 
infringement  of  rights  so  acquired  ;  -and  we,  as  their  representatives,  are 
bound  to  use  every  means  sanctioned  by  the  law  which  governs  us 
against  all  trespassers  on  their  premises,  until  otherwise  directed  by 
orders  emanating  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

Permit  us  to  assure  you,  gentlemen,  that  it  is  our  earnest  wish  to 
maintain  a  good  understanding,  and  to  live  on  friendly  terms  with 
every  person  in  the  country.  We  entertain  the  highest  respect  for  the 
provisional  organization ;  and  knowing  the  good  it  has  effected,  as 


410  HISTORY  OF  OREGOX. 

well  as  the  evil  it  has  prevented,  we  wish  it  every  success,  and  hope, 
as  we  desire,  to  continue  to  live  in  the  exercise  and  interchange  of 
good  offices  with  the  frarners  of  that  useful  institution. 

The  advantages  of  peace  and  harmony,  of  the  support  and  main 
tenance  of  established  rights,  must  be  as  evident  to  every  member  of 
the  community  as  the  evils  flowing  from  a  state  of  lawless  misrule. 

With  these  considerations  before  us,  we  feel  confident  that  every 
person  who  desires  the  well-being  of  the  country,  who  wishes  to  see  it 
prosperous  and  flourishing,  will  unite  in  putting  down  every  course 
which  may  have  a  tendency  to  disturb  the  public  peace,  and  in  pro 
moting,  by  every  means  in  his  power,  the  cause  of  justice,  obedience 
to  the  laws,  and  mutual  accommodation. 

With  a  fervent  prayer  to  the  Divine  bestower  of  all  good  for  the 
happiness  and  prosperity  of  every  individual  in  the  country,  we  have 
the  honor  to  be,  gentlemen,  your  obedient  servants, 

JOHN  MCLAUGHLIN. 
JAMES  DOUGLAS. 


VANCOUVER,  March  18,  1845. 

GENTLEMEN, — I  am  sorry  to  inform  you  that  Mr.  Williamson  is  sur 
veying  a  piece  of  land  occupied  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  along 
side  of  this  establishment,  with  a  view  of  taking  it  as  a  claim ;  and  as 
he  is  an  American  citizen,  I  feel  bound,  as  a  matter  of  courtesy,  to 
make  the  same  known  to  you,  trusting  that  you  will  feel  justified  in 
taking  measures  to  have  him  removed  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany's  premises,  in  order  that  the  unanimity  now  happily  subsisting 
between  the  American  citizens  and  British  subjects  residing  in  this 
country  may  not  be  disturbed  or  interrupted.  I  beg  to  inclose  you  a 
copy  of  an  address  to  the  citizens  of  Oregon,  which  will  explain  to  you 
our  situation  and  the  course  we  are  bound  to  pursue  in  the  event  of 
your  declining  to  interfere. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  your  obedient  humble  servant, 

J.  MCLAUGHLIN. 
WILLIAM  BAILEY, 
OSBORNE  RUSSELL, 
P.  G.  STEWART, 

Executive  Committee  of  Oregon. 

[The  above  documents  must  be  considered  a  full  declaration  of  war 
by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  as  all  future  operations  of  theirs  were 
merely  preparatory  to  the  final  consummation  and  attack  that  was  made 
through  the  Cayuses.  The  answer  of  our  Executive  Committee 


COMMITTEE'S  REPLY. 

acknowledged  treaty  rights  that  did  not  exist,  as  neither  the  sover 
eignty  of  the  soil,  nor  the  boundary  line,  were  settled,  hence  the  joint 
occupancy  of  both  as  per  treaty  was  good.] 

OREGON  CITY,  March  21,  1845. 

SIR, — We  beg  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letters, — one 
dated  llth  of  March,  and  the  other  12th  of  March, — accompanied 
with  an  address  to  the  citizens  of  Oregon. 

We  regret  to  hear  that  unwarranted  liberties  have  been  taken  by 
an  American  citizen  upon  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  premises,  and 
it  affords  us  great  pleasure  to  learn  that  the  offender,  after  due  reflec 
tion,  desisted  from  the  insolent  and  rash  measure. 

As  American  citizens,  we  beg  leave  to  offer  you  and  your  much 
esteemed  colleague  our  most  grateful  thanks  for  the  kind  and  candid 
manner  in  which  you  have  treated  this  matter,  as  we  are  aware  that  an 
infringement  on  the  rights  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  this 
country,  by  an  American  citizen,  is  a  breach  of  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  by  setting  at  naught  her  most  solemn  treaties  with  Great 
Britain. 

As  representatives  of  the  citizens  of  Oregon,  we  beg  your  accept 
ance  of  our  sincere  acknowledgments  of  the  obligations  we  are  under 
to  yourself  and  your  honorable  associate  for  the  high  regard  you  have 
manifested  for  the  authorities  of  our  provisional  government,  and  the 
special  anxiety  you  have  ever  shown  for  our  peace  and  prosperity ; 
and  we  assure  you  that  we  consider  ourselves  in  duty  bound  to  use 
every  exertion  in  our  power  to  put  down  every  cause  of  disturbance, 
as  well  as  to  promote  the  amicable  intercourse  and  kind  feelings 
hitherto  existing  between  ourselves  and  the  gentlemen  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  until  the  United  States  shall  extend  its  jurisdiction 
over  us,  and  our  authority  ceases  to  exist. 

We  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  most  obedient  servants, 

OSBORNE  RUSSELL. 
P.  G.  STEWART. 

JOHN  MCLAUGHLIN,  Esq. 

TUALATIN  PLAINS,  November  2,  1844. 

DEAR  SIR, — Your  communication  of  the  20th  October,  1844,  was 
duly  received,  and  a  press  of  business  has  delayed  my  reply  till  now. 

In  relation  to  the  subject  of  inquiry  contained  in  your  letter  (being 
the  natural  resources  of  Oregon),  I  can  truly  say  that  I  entertain  a 
very  high  opinion  of  the  great  and  decided  advantages  bestowed  by 
nature  upon  this  most  interesting  and  beautiful  portion  of  our  globe. 


412  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Our  facilities  for  commercial  enterprise  are  most  decided,  as  the 
rapidly  increasing  commerce  of  the  great  Pacific  lies  at  our  very  door. 
The  climate  of  this  country  is  more  equable,  subject  to  fewer  extremes 
than  any,  perhaps,  in  the  world.  I  have  been  here  about  one  year, 
and  have  found  it  most  delightful,  and  I  can  truly  say  that  it  is  the 
most  healthy  country  I  have  ever  lived  in.  During  the  present  year,  I 
have  scarcely  heard  of  a  case  of  fever  in  the  whole  country.  The 
timber  of  Oregon  is  indeed  most  superior,  and  constitutes  a  large  por 
tion  of  its  wealth  ;  and  we  have  not  only  the  tallest,  finest  timber  in 
the  world,  but  we  have  everywhere  water  power  to  any  desirable 
extent,  suitable  for  propelling  all  kinds  of  machinery. 

The  soil  of  this  country  is  most  excellent,  and  can  be  prepared  and 
cultivated  with  less  labor  than  that  of  any  other  country.  Wheat  is 
the  great  staple  of  the  world,  and  as  a  wheat-growing  country,  this 
ranks  in  the  very  first  class.  The  crop  is  not  only  of  the  best  quality, 
but  is  always  large,  and  there  is  no  such  occurrence  as  a  failure  of  the 
ivheat  crop.  For  potatoes,  melons,  turnips,  and  garden  vegetables 
generally,  our  soil  is  superior.  Indian  corn  does  not  succeed  well,  and 
in  fact  we  have  no  use  for  it,  as  our  cattle  live  all  the  year  upon  the 
natural  pastures  of  the  country.  Since  I  have  been  here,  I  have  been 
myself  engaged  in  farming  occupations,  and  I  have  been  astonished  at 
the  very  small  amount  of  labor  required  to  cultivate  a  farm.  Potatoes 
are  planted,  and  nothing  more  is  done  to  them  until  they  are  ready  for 
digging,  when  they  are  not  dug,  but  generally  turned  up  with  the 
plow.  Peas  are  sown  broadcast,  like  "wheat,  and  are  neither  staked 
nor  cultivated,  and  produce  in  great  abundance.  Plowing  is  done 
here  from  the  month  of  September  until  July,  and  wheat  is  sown  from 
October  to  May,  and  potatoes  are  planted  in  March,  April,  and  May. 
A  team  of  two  horses,  with  a  very  light,  easy  plow,  can  break  prairie 
land,  but  a  team  of  two  yoke  of  oxen  is  most  generally  used.  I  am 
informed  that  timothy,  clover,  and  blue  grass  all  grow  well  in  the  soil 
of  Oregon.  For  pasturage  this  country  is  pre-eminent.  Horses,  cattle, 
and  sheep  require  neither  feed  nor  shelter,  and  keep  fat  all  the  year 
round.  Hogs  are  raised  here  with  partial  feeding,  and  pork  is  generally 
fattened  upon  wheat,  and  finer  pork  I  never  saw  anywhere. 

I  omitted  to  mention  in  its  appropriate  place  that  our  harvesting  com 
mences  about  the  20th  of  July,  and  continues  throughout  the  month  of 
August ;  and  during  the  present  year  we  had  no  rain  from  about  the  1st 
of  July  to  the  15th  of  October,  so  that  we  had  the  finest  weather  for 
saving  our  crops  imaginable. 

One  thing  that  strikes  the  beholder  of  this  conntry  with  greatest 
force,  is  the  unsurpassable  beauty  of  its  scenery.  We  have  snow-clad 


P.   H.   BURNETT'S   LETTER.  413 

mountains,  beautiful  valleys,  pure,  rapid  streams  running  over  pebbly 
beds,  with  numerous  cascades  and  waterfalls,  and  trees  of  superior 
grandeur  and  beauty. 

The  government  of  Oregon  has  grown  up  from  necessity ;  and  per 
haps  no  new  organization  has  been  adopted  and  sustained  with  so  much 
unanimity  and  good  order.  Every  circumstance  has  tended  to  strengthen 
it.  I  attended  the  last  term  ot*  the  Circuit  Courts  in  most  of  the  coun 
ties,  and  I  found  great  respect  shown  to  judicial  authority  everywhere, 
and  did  not  see  a  solitary  drunken  juryman,  or  witness,  or  spectator. 
So  much  industry,  good  order,  and  sobriety,  I  have  never  observed  in 
any  community.  Our  population  seem  to  be  exceedingly  enterprising, 
and  is  making  rapid  progress  to  comfort  and  wealth.  As  yet,  we  have 
had  no  murders,  no  robberies,  thefts,  or  felonies  of  any  kind,  except  one 
assault  with  intent  to  kill.  Our  grand  juries  have  exhibited  very  laud 
able  assiduity  in  discharging  their  duties,  and  criminals  here  will  meet 
with  certain  and  prompt  punishment. 

Nature  has  displayed  here  her  most  magnificent  powers,  and  our 
country  has  its  full  share  of  natural  advantages.  Our  prospects  are 
most  brilliant.  If  we  can  keep  out  intoxication,  and  we  will  do  it,  half 
a  century  will  not  roll  away  before  there  will  exist  in  Oregon  one  of  the 
most  industrious,  virtuous,  free,  and  commercial  nations  in  the  world. 

I  have  already  protracted  this  communication  beyond  its  appropriate 
length,  and  will  now  close  it  by  subscribing  myself, 

Yours,  etc.,  PETER  H.  BURNETT. 

Dr.  E.  WHITE. 


WALLAMET,  OREGON,  April  4,  1845. 

SIR, — I  have  the  honor  and  happiness  of  informing  you,  and  through 
you,  if  it  be  your  pleasure,  the  American  public,  that  measures  have 
been  taken  by  myself  and  the  citizens  in  this  colony,  to  open  a  wagon 
route  through  from  the  upper  part  of  this  valley,  the  present  season, 
directly  to  Fort  Hall,  or  Green  River ;  the  pilot  returning  and  escort 
ing  the  immigrants  through  the  much  shorter,  easier,  and  every  way  more 
advantageous  route.  The  immigrants  will  thereby  be  enabled  to  bring 
with  them  their  herds,  wagons,  and  all  their  effects  at  once  directly  into 
the  heart  of  the  Wallamet  Valley ;  saving  thereby  an  immense  amount 
of  toil,  hardship,  and  suffering,  saying  nothing  of  the  necessary  destruc 
tion  and  increased  danger  of  the  other  route. 

Your  humble  and  obedient  servant, 

E.  WHITE, 

Sub-Agent  Indian  Affairs,  W.  R.  M. 
The  messenger  is  leaving. 


414:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

OREGON  CITY,  March  4,  1845. 
Dr.  E.  White: 

SIR, — In  compliance  with  the  request  you  made  to  me,  that  I  should 
notice  and  communicate  to  you  whatever  I  might  deem  of  interest  dur 
ing  my  visit,  in  your  employ,  to  the  various  Indian  tribes  east  of  the 
Cascade  Mountains,  bearing  to  them  presents  with  admonitions  and 
advice  from  you  in  order  to  secure  the  safety  and  peace  of  the  immi 
grants  in  their  passage  through  their  country,  the  following  is  sub 
mitted  : — 

1.  The  Nez  Perces. — Your  acquaintance  with  this  promising  people 
renders  it  unnecessary  for  me  to  speak  of  their  general  character.     I 
would  simply  remark,  that  their  anxieties  to  become  a  civilized  and  lit 
erary  nation  have  suffered  no  abatement  since  I  left  them  in  March  last, 
after  passing  the  winter  with  them  most  pleasantly,  as  teacher,  in  the 
employ  of  Rev.  H.  H.  Spalding,  missionary.     Ellis,  with  most  of  the 
chiefs,  was  absent,  having  gone  to  meet  the  immigrants,  then  in  the 
vicinity  of  Fort  Boise,  with  a  view  to  furnish  them  provisions,  and 
trade  them  horses  for  cattle.    You  are  aware  of  their  eagerness  tb  obtain 
domestic  stock  with  all  farmin^  utensils,  whicli  I  regard  as  one  of  the 

O  O 

most  interesting  facts  connected  with  Indian  affairs  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Avarice  is  doubtless  the  ruling  passion  of  most  Indians, 
and  forms  a  capital  upon  which  those  engaged  in  Indian  affairs  may 
operate  for  good  or  evil.  With  the  Nez  Perces,  it  has  thus  far  been 
turned  to  good  account,  effecting  results  as  beneficial  to  the  whites  and 
more  salutary  to  the  natives  themselves,  on  this  side  the  mountains,  than 
has  been  effected  on  the  other  side  by  military  force.  Such  is  the  prev 
alence  of  this  "love  of  gain"  among  the  Indians,  that  all  efforts  to 
control  them  by  motives  held  out  to  any  other  passion,  must  prove 
ineffectual,  at  least,  while  we  are  unable  to  awe  them  by  martial  parade. 
The  individual  difficulties  existing  between  James,  Timothy,  and 
others,  in  relation  to  their  claims  on  the  valley,  about  the  Clearwater 
Mission,  are,  for  the  time,  put  to  rest,  by  the  promise  that  you  will  visit 
them  soon,  and  have  the  matter  properly  adjusted.  Their  crops  this 
year  have  been  abundant,  and  they  have  furnished  the  immigrants  large 
supplies  of  provisions,  which,  I  am  happy  to  say,  were  bartered  in  good 
faith,  and  the  trade  conducted  with  much  amity  and  good  feeling  on  both 
sides,  while  I  have  to  regret  that  Ellis  and  his  people  were  unable  to 
procure  cattle  to  any  extent  worthy  of  notice.  The  presents  were 
received,  and  the  advice  heard  with  a  most  respectful  attention. 

2.  The   Cayuses  are  also  manifesting  a  spirit    of  enterprise,  highly 
commendable.     They  too,  have  raised  much  grain  and  potatoes,  and  are 


LAWLESS   BANDS   OF   INDIANS.  415 

trading  freely  with  the  immigrants.  A  number  of  their  chiefs  and  prin 
cipal  men  were  absent  at  the  time,  having  gone,  in  company  with  a  party 
of  Wallawallas,  to  California,  with  horses  to  trade  for  cattle.  They 
have  since  returned,  and  I  sincerely  regret  to  learn  the  failure  of  this, 
their  first  expedition  of  the  kind.  The  Spaniards  and  other  whites 
treated  them  badly ;  murdered  one  of  the  most  promising  young  men 
of  the  Wallawallas,  and  the  party  returned  without  effecting  the  object 
of  their  trip.  What  influence  this  affair  will  have  upon  the  conduct  of 
these  two  tribes  in  reference  to  the  next  immigration  passing  through 
their  countries,  time  alone  must  determine. 

The  lawless  bands  along  the  river,  from  Fort  Walla  walla  to  the 
Dalles,  are  still  troublesome  to  the  immigrants;  and  the  immigrants  are 
still  very  imprudent  in  breaking  off  into  small  parties,  just  when  they 
should  remain  united.  The  Indians  are  tempted  by  the  unguarded  and 
defenseless  state  of  the  immigrants,  and  avail  themselves  of  the  opportu 
nity  to  gratify  their  cupidity.  Here  allow  me  to  suggest  a  thought. 
These  robbers  furnish  us  a  true  miniature  likeness  of  the  whole  Indian 
population,  whenever  they  fail  to  obtain  such  things  as  they  wish  in 
exchange  for  such  as  they  have  to  give.  These  are  robbers  now,  be 
cause  they  have  nothing  to  give  ;  all  others  will  be  robbers  when,  with 
what  they  have  to  give,  they  can  not  procure  what  they  wish.  I  am 
satisfied  of  the  correctness  of  this  conclusion,  from  all  that  I  have  wit 
nessed  of  Indian  character,  even  among  the  praiseworthy  Nez  Perces. 
And  should  the  government  of  the  United  States  withhold  her  protec 
tion  from  her  subjects  in  Oregon,  they  will  be  under  the  necessity  of 
entering  into  treaty  stipulations  with  the  Indians,  in  violation  of  the 
laws  of  the  United  States,  as  preferable  to  a  resort  to  force  of  arms. 
Hitherto,  the  immigrants  have  had  no  serious  difficulty  in  passing  through 
the  territory  of  these  tribes  ;  but  that  their  passage  is  becoming  more 
and  more  a  subject  of  interest  to  the  Indians,  is  abundantly  manifest. 
They  coUect  about  the  road  from  every  part  of  the  country,  and  have 
looked  on  with  amazement ;  but  the  novelty  of  the  scene  is  fast  losing 
its  power  to  hold  in  check  their  baser  passions.  The  next  immigration 
will,  in  all  probability,  call  forth  developments  of  Indian  character, 
which  have  been  almost  denied  an  existence  among  these  people.  In 
deed,  sir,  had  you  not  taken  the  precaution  to  conciliate  their  good 
feelings  and  friendship  toward  the  whites,  just  at  the  time  they  were 
meeting  each  other,  it  is  to  be  doubted  whether  there  had  not  been 
some  serious  difficulties.  Individuals  on  both  sides  have  been  mutually 
provoked  and  exasperated  during  the  passage  of  each  immigration,  and 
these  cases  are  constantly  multiplying.  Much  prudence  is  required  on 
the  part  of  the  whites,  and,  unfortunately,  they  have  very  little  by  the 


416  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

time  they  reach  the  Columbia  Valley.  Some  of  the  late  immigrants, 
losing  their  horses,  and  very  naturally  supposing  them  stolen  by  the 
Indians,  went  to  the  bands  of  horses  owned  by  the  Indians  and  took  as 
many  as  they  wished. 

You  are  too  well  acquainted  with  Indians  to  suppose  that  such  a 
course  can  be  persisted  in  without  producing  serious  results.  I  am 
aware  that  this  is  looking  at  the  dark  side ;  but  sir,  perhaps  it  is  wis 
dom  to  look  at  that  side  when  it  is  more  than  half  turned  toward  us, 
if,  by  looking,  we  can  find  some  way  to  turn  it  back  again.  I  look  to 
Ellis,  and  the  speedy  action  of  the  general  government  of  the  United 
States,  as  the  brightest  features  in  the  prospect  now  before  us.  Your 
knowledge  of  my  situation  and  circumstances  render  any  apology 
unnecessary  for  this  imperfect  scroll. 

I  remain,  your  humble  servant, 

Dr.  E.  WHITE,  H.  A.  G.  LEE. 

Sub-Agent  Indian  affairs,  W.  R.  M. 


OREGON  TERRITORY,  July  8,  1845. 
To  the  Hon.  the  Secretary  of  the  War  Department : 

DEAR  SIR, — I  beg  leave,  most  respectfully,  to  submit  a  few  thoughts 
for  your  consideration,  relative  to  the  course  pursued  by  Dr.  E.  White, 
our  late  Indian  sub-agent,  now  on  the  eve  of  leaving  us.  I  would  not 
venture  to  intrude  upon  your  time,  but  for  the  reason  that  I  am  aware 
that  Dr.  White  leaves  with  an  anxious  and  laboring  mind,  in  view  of 
the  state  of  his  finances,  fearing,  perhaps,  a  proper  consideration  might 
not  be  given  to  the. situation  and  circumstances  in  which  he  has  been 
placed  in  this  isolated  portion  of  our  wide  domain.  I  consider  it  but 
justice  to  Dr.  White,  to  say,  having  crossed  the  mountains  with  him, 
that  he  exerted  himself,  and  did  much  toward  raising  the  first  party 
that  were  of  a  sufficient  number  to  travel  independent  of  the  trading 
companies  to  the  mountains ;  thereby  opening  the  way,  and  making 
the  first  track  to  Oregon  ;  and  since  his  arrival,  by  his  promptness, 
decision,  and  firmness,  we  have  been  saved  from  the  baneful  influence 
and  degradation  of  ardent  spirits  here,  in  our  infant  colony;  and  by 
his  kind,  conciliatory  measures,  active  charity,  and  judicious  conduct 
among  the  Indians,  he  has  done  much  for  them,  and  probably,  in 
several  instances,  fended  off  the  arrow  of  savage  warfare. 

The  indefatigable  perseverance,  expense,  and  time  Dr.  White  has 
been  at  in  ferreting  out  a  road  across  the  Cascade  Mountains,  *  which 

*  The  Cascade  ridge  of  mountains  was  found  to  be  high  and  difficult  to  pass ;  and  it 
is  doubtful  with  rne  if  the  immigrants  succeeded  in  crossing  over  with  their  wagons  and 
effects,  into  the  valley  of  the  Wallamet. 


MESSRS.  LOVEJOT'S  AND   GILPIN'S  LETTERS.  417 

will  intersect  the  old  wagon  road  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Hall,  cutting 
off  some  two  or  three  hundred  miles  of  the  worst  portion  of  the  road, 
entirely  avoiding  the  Columbia  River,  and  the  dangers  incident  to  these 
waters,  by  an  inexperienced,  worn-out,  and  fatigued  immigration.  By 
this  new  route,  the  immigrants  will  find  themselves  greatly  relieved,  and 
saved  from  immense  trouble,  as  they  will  as  readily  reach  the  head 
of  the  Wallamet  settlement,  as  they  would,  by  the  old,  reach  Wallamet ; 
avoiding  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  the  Snake  and  Columbia  rivers. 

In  conclusion,  allow  me  to  observe  that  the  sacrifice  one  is  obliged 
to  make  in  funds  of  this  country,  to  render  them  specie,  or  available 
drafts,  is  immense ;  and  it  is  almost  impossible  to  do  it  at  all,  to  any 
amount.  Consequently,  the  doctor  finds  himself  very  much  embar 
rassed  in  his  financial  concerns,  being  obliged  to  draft  on  his  govern 
ment  for  his  entire  expenditures  in  his  official  capacity. 

Be  pleased  to  accept,  etc.,  my  dear  sir, 

While  I  remain  yours, 

With  due  regard  and  great  respect, 

A.  LAWRENCE  LOVEJOY. 


OREGON,  August  14,  1845. 

The  following  resolution  was  introduced  and  adopted  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  of  Oregon  Territory,  this  day  : — 

Resolved,  That  this  House  recommend  to  the  favorable  consideration 
of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  the  just  claims  of  Dr.  Elijah 
White,  sub-Indian  agent,  to  remuneration  for  the  heavy  expense  by 
him  incurred,  in  attempting  to  discover  a  southern  pass  through  the 
Cascade  Mountains. 

M.  M.  McCARVER,  Speaker. 

Attest :  J.  E.  LONG,  Clerk. 


WASHINGTON  CITY,  Dec.  9,  1845. 
Hon.  W.  MediU : 

DEAR  SIR, — Allow  me  to  say  a  word  in  behalf  of  my  friend,  Dr. 
Elijah  White,  Indian  agent  in  Oregon,  who  desires  to  arrange  at  tlu- 
department  the  accounts  of  his  four  years'  service  in  that  Territory.  Dr. 
White,  with  whom  I  passed  the  winter  of  1844  upon  the  Wallamet,  has 
had  unnumbered  difficulties  surrounding  him,  and  has  performed  his 
duties  with  great  delicacy  and  happy  success.  My  conviction  is,  that 
he  has  performed  services  in  Oregon,  both  to  whites  and  Indians,  equal 
to  those  of  several  agencies  combined,  on  our  western  frontier,  at  a  very 
27 


418  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

inadequate  compensation,  and  with  very  stinted  means.     All  whom  I 
heard  comment  upon  the  administration  of  his  office  have  accorded  to  - 
him  great  praise  for  ardor  and  industry ;  and  those  among  whom  he  has 
officially  acted  will  be  gratified  to  hear  that  he  has  met  a  generous 
reception  at  the  department. 

Yours,  with  great  respect, 

WILLIAM  GILPIN. 


WAR  DEPARTMENT,  j 

OFFICE  OF  INDIAN  AFFAIRS,  Jan.  5,  1846.  j" 

SIR, — The  Secretary  of  War  is  desirous  that  you  should  return  to 
your  agency  as  early  as  practicable,  and  has  authorized  me  to  say  that 
the  Department  will  allow  to  you  the  sum  of  three  hundred  dollars 
($300)  to  defray  your  expenses  there. 

Instructions  in  relation  to  your  duties  will  be  given  you  when  you 
reach  this  city,  or  will  be  forwarded  to  you  at  such  place  as  you  may 
designate.  An  immediate  reply  will  be  expected. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  MEDILL. 
Dr.  ELIJAH  WHITE,  Lansingville,  Tompkins  Co.,  N.  Y. 

Since  the  above  requirement  I  have  been  detained  here  waiting  the 
action  of  Congress  upon  the  following  bill,  to  release  me  from  the 
responsibilities  of  my  government  protested  drafts,  which,  from  the 'rapid 
influx  of  white  population  to  that  distant  Indian  country,  the  necessities 
of  my  position  have  compelled  me  to  incur. 

I  am  now  out  of  employment,  and  on  heavy  expenses,  and  under  obli 
gation,  from  important  engagements,  to  leave  for  Oregon  soon,  in  order 
to  reach  my  destination  this  fall. 

Should  the  following  report  of  the  Senate  committee  prove  satisfac 
tory,  and  all  be  persuaded  that  I  have  acted  correctly,  and  expended  no 
more  than  the  honor  of  our  government  and  the  necessities  of  my  position 
required,  I  will  feel  greatly  obliged  if  Congress, "  now  so  much  relieved 
from  heavy  national  and  public  affairs,"  will  take  up  my  bill  and  pass 
it  through  informally,  as  these  protested  drafts  crowd  and  embarrass  me 
much. 

The  Indian  Department  have  reconsidered  the  case,  and,  as  the  report 
of  the  committee  will  show,  done  for  me  what  they  felt  authorized  to 
do ;  and  I  now  most  respectfully  pray  your  honorable  consideration  to 
the  payment  of  the  residue,  that  I  may  go  back  to  the  land  of  my  adop 
tion  unembarrassed,  and  happy  in  the  consideration  that  our  Congress 


REPORT  ON  PETITION  OF  DR.  WHITE.  419 

will  do  right.  And  that  any  small  presents,  and  other  reasonable 
expenses  to  conciliate  Indians  where  our  citizens  are  settling  on  their 
unbought  lands,  will  be  cheerfully  met. 

Should  any  member  desire  an  explanation,  please  drop  me  a  note,  and 
I  will  call  at  the  moment  required.  Only  pray  act,  and  let  me  be  off; 
for  I  thirst  to  be  on  the  prairies  of  the  far  west,  making  my  way  to  the 
valley  of  the  Wallamet. 

The  documents  from  the  Legislature  of  Oregon  arrived  and  defeated 
the  doctor. 

The  following  extract  is  from  the  report  of  the  Senate  Committee  on 
Indian  Affairs  on  the  petition  of  Dr.  White : — 

"  Your  committee  finds  this  first  charge  to  be  the  amount  actually  and 
necessarily  expended  by  the  petitioner,  and  believes  it  to  be  moderate 
and  equitable,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  allowed. 

"The  second  charge  appears  equally  just,  and  to  have  been  made  in 
compliance  with  the  instructions  of  T.  Hartley  Crawford,  superintend 
ent  of  Indian  aifairs,  of  February  9,  1842,  and  enforced  by  the  resolution 
of  the  Oregon  Legislature,  expressing  the  hope  that  Congress  will  reim 
burse  the  expenses  of  the  petitioner  thereby  incurred. 

"  The  third  charge  is  for  moneys  actually  paid  under  the  specified 
heads  by  the  petitioner,  and  for  which  drafts  are  now  under  protest, 
being  disallowed  by  the  department.  These  accounts,  your  committee 
finds,  have  been  suspended  by  the  department  under  a  decision  made 
to  restrict  the  petitioner  to  the  amount  allowed  by  law  to  sub-agents, 
viz.,  $1,250  per  annum  in  all.  Your  committee  believes  that  these 
amounts  are  equitably  and  justly  asked,  and  should  be  granted  by  Con 
gress,  although  the  committee  approves  of  the  decision  of  the  depart 
ment,  and  thinks,  in  cases  like  the  present,  that  such  extra  allowances 
should  be  made  only  by  Congress. 

"Your  committee  has  had  a  variety  of  testimony  before  it,  show 
ing  that  the  affairs  of  his  position  have  compelled  the  petitioner  to 
transact  and  regulate  Indian  relations  among  ten  large  tribes,  and  many 
more  smaller  ones,  speaking  different  languages,  and  for  the  most  part 
warlike,  excitable,  and  suspicious  people.  The  Indian  population,  among 
whom  he  has  been  the  only  official  organ,  amounts  to  twenty-five 
thousand  souls.  The  petitioner  has  been  left  to  support  himself  by 
his  solitary  energies  and  exertions,  without  the  aid  of  troops,  annui 
ties,  or  the  awe  which  the  power  of  the  government  exercises  over 
Indians  to  whom  it  is  known.  The  prices  of  all  articles  (especially 
provisions),  and  the  wages  of  interpreters  and  assistants,  and  the  means 


420  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

of  traveling  and  transportation  are  very  high,  and  difficult  to  be  pro 
cured. 

"  Your  committee  believes  that  the  petitioner  would  be  left  without 
any  compensation  for  four  years  of  arduous,  harassing,  and  vexatious 
services,  unless  the  relief  for  which  he  prays  be  extended  to  him  by 
Congress.  ; 

"  The  committee,  therefore,  reports  the  accompanying  bill,  and  rec 
ommends  its  passage,  as  sanctioned  by  the  equity  and  justice  of  the 
case,  and  according  with  the  uniform  policy  and  practice  of  the  Con 
gress  of  the  United  States  in  similar  cases." 

We  wish  to  state  that  the  reason  for  quoting  Dr.  White's  report  so 
extensively  is  from  the  facts  embodied  in  it,  wholly  independent  of  his 
self-lauding  statement.  Did  we  not  know  that  Mr.  Cornelius  Rogers 
and  Mr.  H.  A.  G.  Lee  were  his  advisers  and  interpreters,  we  would  not 
quote  him  as  at  all  reliable  in  any  of  his  Indian  councils  or  proceedings. 


CHAPTER  LL 

1845. — Public  meetings  to  elect  delegates  to  convention. — Candidates  for  governor. — 
Members  elected  to  the  Legislative  Committee. — Oath  of  office. — Mr.  Applegate's 
announcement. — Dr.  McLaughlin's  amphibiousness. — Description  of  the  members 
of  the  Legislative  Committee.--Business  of  the  session. — Ermatinger's  election  con 
tested. — Mr.  Garrison's  resolutions. — Anti-slavery  resolution. — Organic  law  revised. 
— Improvements  and  condition  of  the  country. 

1845. — PUBLIC  meetings  had  been  held  in  most  of  the  districts,  and 
nominations  made  for  the  Legislative  Committee.  Delegates  were 
elected  to  meet  at  Champoeg  in  convention,  to  nominate  candidates  for 
governor,  supreme  judge,  and  Territorial  recorder. 

In  this  convention  A.  L.  Lovejoy,  George  Abernethy,  O.  Russell,  and 
Dr.  Bailey  were  candidates  for  governor.  After  several  ballotings, 
Mr.  Lovejoy  received  a  majority  of  the  votes,  and  was  declared  the 
regularly  nominated  candidate.  Mr.  Russell's  friends  were  dissatisfied, 
and  in  the  final  vote  at  the  June  election,  joined  with  Mr.  Abernetliy's 
friends  and  elected  him,  although  he  was  absent  from  the  country.  This 
left  the  .old  Executive  Committee  in  power  until  after  the  meeting  of 
the  Legislative  Committee,  and  revision  of  the  organic  laws,  which  was 
the  first  business  the  committee  attended  to,  and.  submitted  the  amended 
organic  compact  to  the  people  for  their  approval. 

The  members  elected  were : — 

From  Clackamas  County :  H.  A.  G.  Lee,  W.  H.  Gray,  H.  Straight. 

From  Champoeg  County :  R.  Newell,  J.  M.  Garrison,  M.  G.  Foisy, 
and  B.  Lee. 

From  Yamhill  County :  Jesse  Applegate  and  A.  Hendricks. 

From  Tualatin  County :  M.  M.  McCarver,  J.  W.  Smith,  and  David 
Hill. 

From  Clatsop  County :  John  McClure. 

The  oath  administered  to  this  Legislative  Committee  shows  the  feel 
ings  of  the  mover  (Mr.  Applegate)  toward  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

OATH  OF  OFFICE. — "  I  do  solemnly  swear  that  I  will  support  the 
organic  laws  of  the  provisional  government  of  Oregon,  so  far  as  the  said 
organic  laws  are  consistent  with  my  duties  as  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  or  a  subject  of  Great  Britain,  and  faithfully  demean  myself  in 
office.  So  help  me  God." 

In  starting  from  Missouri  to  come  to  this  country  in  1843,  Mr.  Apple- 


422  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

gate  announced  to  his  traveling  companions,  as  we  have  been  credibly 
informed,  that  he  meant  to  drive  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  from  the 
country.  To  reach  the  country  independent  of  them,  he  had  sold  or 
mortgaged  his  cattle  to  get  supplies  at  Wallawalla.  On  arriving  at 
Vancouver,  he  found  Dr.  McLaughlin  to  be  much  of  a  gentleman,  and 
disposed  to  aid  him  in  every  way  he  could.  The  doctor  advised  him 
to  keep  his  cattle  and  gave  him  employment  as  a  surveyor,  and  credit 
for  all  he  required.  This  kind  treatment  closed  Mr.  Applegate' s  open 
statements  of  opposition  to  the  company,  and  secured  his  friendship 
and  his  influence  to  keep  his  Missouri  friends  from  doing  violence  to 
them.  He  carried  this  kind  feeling  for  them  into  the  Legislative  Com 
mittee. 

At  this  point  the  amphibious  disposition  of  Dr.  McLaughlin  (a 'terra 
applied  to  the  doctor,  by  a  member  of  the  company,  for  his  supposed 
friendship  to  the  American  cause)  began  to  develop  itself;  and  in  pro 
portion  as  he  favored  American  interests  he  fell  in  the  estimation  of  the 
company  and  the  English  government. 

The  oath  of  office  presented  by  Mr.  Applegate,  and  supported  by 
Messrs.  Newell,  Foisy,  McCarver,  Garrison,  Smith,  and  Hendricks, 
shows  that  these  men  were  favorable  to  a  union  with  the  company  or 
the  English  party  in  the  country.  This  would  have  been  right  and 
honorable,  had  there  been  a  corresponding  honorable  confidence  on 
their  part ;  but,  as  the  sequel  will  show,  this  was  not  the  case.  They 
were  willing  to  favor  our  organization  and  give  it  a  quasi  support  while 
it  served  their  purposes  and  afforded  them  an  opportunity  to  work 
for  its  final  overthrow. 

As  a  citizen,  Mr.  Applegate  has  been  one  of  our  best ;  as  a  politician, 
he  has  acted  on  the  old  Whig  platform,  that,  with  him,  has  never  been 
revised.  Though  half  the  American  continent  has  been  changed  since 
he  adopted  it,  yet  his  political  creed  is  the  same  as  that  announced  by 
Hamilton  in  the  Federalist.  My  first  impression  of  him  was,  that  he 
was  better  versed  in  the  principles  of  that  party  than  in  those  of  reli 
gion,  or  the  general  interests  of  a  new  country.  The  fact  that  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company,  or  rather  Dr.  McLaughlin,  early  secured  his  per 
sonal  friendship,  was  the  cause  of  his  losing  caste  among  his  Missouri 
friends,  and  also  among  the  larger  portion  of  the  settlers  that  the  com 
pany  were  not  disposed  to  favor.  In  his  legislative  capacity  he  was 
invaluable.  His  mind  was  clear  and  distinct,  and  he  was  generally  cor 
rect  in  his  conclusions.  Though  not  a  good  debater,  yet  his  mathemati 
cal  calculations,  and  straight  lines,  always  came  close  to  the  mark.  He 
was  kind  and  obliging  to  a  friend  or  favorite,  but  severe  on  his  enemies. 

Mr.  Abijah  Hendricks,  from  the  same  county,  was  a  plain  farmer, 


MEMBERS  OF  THE   LEGISLATURE.  423 

who  followed  the  lead  of  Mr.  Applegate,  causing  him  to  always  count 
two  in  any  vote. 

Mr.  J.  II.  Smith,  of  Tualatin  County,  was  also  a  plain  farmer,  and  gen 
erally  voted  with  Mr.  Hill. 

Mr.  M.  G.  Foisy,  from  Champoeg,  a  Frenchman,  followed  the  lead  of 
Mr.  Newell. 

Mr.  Barton  Lee  was  of  the  independent  Democratic  pro- slavery 
school,  generally  voting  against  mission  interests,  from  personal  preju 
dice,  and  was  equally  ignorant  of  and  prejudiced  against  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company;  following  the  lead  of  H.  A.  G.  Lee. 

J.  M.  Garrison  was  a  perfect  weathercock,  and  none  could  tell  from 
his  speeches  or  actions  what  his  vote  would  be. 

H.  Straight,  of  Clackamas  County,  was  a  man  of  strong  prejudices 
and  but  little  legislative  ability,  pro-slavery  in  sentiment,  and  strongly 
opposed  to  the  company  and  mission  influences.  He  generally  voted 
with  Mr.  Hill,  of  Tualatin  District. 

John  McClure,  of  Clatsop  County,  a  man  of  fine  appearance  and  gen 
erally  respected  for  his  age,  but,  as  a  politician,  having  no  influence — 
merely  occupying  a  pi  ace.  He  was  of  the  pro-slavery  school — extremely 
bitter  and  sarcastic  in  his  conversation  against  all  who  fell  under  his 
displeasure,  yet  liberal  to  personal  friends,  and  kind  to  strangers ;  but 
severe  alike  on  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  religious  societies. 
He  was  inclined  in  his  own  religious  ideas  to  Romanism. 

H.  A.  G,  Lee  was  a  young  man  of  talent,  firmness,  and  unimpeachable 
character.  He  acted  with  caution,  and  generally  right.  He  was  not  a 
verbose,  but  a  conclusive  debater.  In  short,  the  words  of  a  debate  were 
uttered  by  McCarver,  and  the  conclusions  and  final  action  followed  Lee, 
who  was  always  ready,  with  Applegate  and  Gray,  to  do  his  full  share 
of  writing  and  labor. 

As  we  have  before  stated,  the  first  business  of  this  Legislative  Com 
mittee  was,  to  revise  and  prepare  an  organic  law,  which  could  be  sub 
mitted  for  the  adoption  of  the  people.  The  whole  number  of  voters 
was  about  eight  hundred. 

While  this  was  being  done  by  a  special  committee  consisting  of  H. 
A.  G.  Lee,  Newell,  Applegate,  Smith,  and  McClure, — one  from  each 
county  represented, — another  special  committee,  consisting  of  Gray,  Ap 
plegate,  H.  A.  G.  Lee,  McClure,  and  D.  Hill,  were  appointed  to  draft  a 
memorial  and  petition,  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  setting  forth  the  condition,  situation,  relations,  and  wants  of 
this  country.  These  two  objects  occupied  the  greater  portion  of  the 
time  of  this  Legislative  Committee,  during  their  session  of  eleven 
days. 


HISTORY  OF   OREGON. 

On  the  third  day  of  the  session,  the  question  as  to  the  legality  of 
allowing  Francis  Ermatinger  to  hold  the  office  of  treasurer  came  up, 
and  it  was  finally  decided  that  there  were  not  sufficient  grounds  for 
contesting  the  election.  Ermatinger  was  then  a  member  of  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company,  and  so  was  Dr.  HcLaughlin.  Hill  and  Straight 
were  the  only  two  who  voted  against  Ermatinger's  holding  that  office. 
I  have  no  doubt,  from  the  feeling  and  influence  just  then  operating 
among  the  officers  and  servants  of  the  company  and  English  colonists 
(which  subsequent  events  have  proved),  that  they  were  laboring  to 
divide  the  American  influence,  by  coming  in  and  appearing  to  act  with 
us.  Ermatinger  was  popular  among  the  Americans,  and  received  the 
entire  French  vote,  and  wTas  declared  duly  elected  by  the  Legislative 
Committee. 

On  the  fifth  day  of  the  session,  J.  M.  Garrison  (I  think  he  was  called 
Rev.  in  those  days)  brought  in  a  set  of  resolutions  which  speak  for 
themselves. 

"  On  motion  of  Mr.  Garrison — 

"  Resolved,  That  whereas  the  people  of  Oregon,  assembled  en  masse, 
did,  on  the  2d  day  of  May,  1843,  resolve  that  no  tax  should  be  levied 
upon  this  people,  confirming  the  same  by  the  adoption  of  the  report  of 
the  committee  of  ways  and  means,  adopted  by  the  Legislative  Com 
mittee  and  referred  to  the  people  en  masse,  and  by  them  enacted  on  the 
5th  day  of  July,  1843  ;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  this  house  has  no  right  to  levy  a  tax  of  any  kind, 
without  the  consent  of  the  free  voters  of  this  Territory  previously 
obtained. 

"  Resolved,  That  all  acts  and  parts  of  acts  on  that  subject  passed  by 
the  Legislative  Committee  were  contrary  to  the  express  resolution  and 
action  of  the  people." 

These  resolutions  were  referred  to  committee  of  the  whole,  where 
they  found  a  silent  grave. 

Dr.  White  by  this  time  is  coming  up  for  a  big  splurge.  Our  young 
friend  H.  A.  G.  Lee  proposes  to  make  him  the  bearer  of  our  memorial 
to  Congress,  by  introducing  a  resolution,  "  That  the  clerk  be  required 
to  furnish  to  Dr.  E.  White  a  copy  of  the  memorial  to  Congress,  as  soon 
as  it  shall  be  properly  signed,  as  per  resolution  of  yesterday." 

This  resolution  elicited  a  little  discussion,  and  a  statement  that  Dr. 
White  was  not  to  be  trusted  with  any  public  document  to  the  govern 
ment,  as  he  would  more  than  probably  change,  or  so  arrange  those 
documents  as  to  secure  his  own  personal  ends,  whatever  they  might  be. 
By  those  unacquainted  with  Dr.  White  this  was  considered  strange 
and  unreasonable  prejudice  against  him ;  so  that  on  the  final  question 


THE  FIRST  ORGANIC  LAW.  425 

there  were  but  Gray,  Hill,  and  Straight  who  voted  against  placing  the 
documents  in  his  hands. 

On  the  last  day  of  this  session  Mr.  Applegate  introduced  a  test  ques 
tion  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  precisely  the  same  as  that  introduced  by 
Garrison  four  days  previous. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  government  can  recognize  the  right  of  one  per 
son  to  the  services  of  another  only  upon  bona-fide  contract  made  and 
entered  into,  and  equally  binding  on  both  parties." 

Yeas — Applegate,  Gray,  Smith,  McCarver,  Garrison,  Hill,  II.  A.  G. 
Lee,  Hend ricks,  and  Foisy — 10. 

Nays — Straight,  B.  Lee,  and  McClure — 3. 

We  must  now  adjourn  our  Legislative  Committee  a  few  days,  and 
see  what  is  going  on  outside. 

The  organic  laws  of  the  people  first  adopted  at  Champoeg,  July  5, 
1843,  had  been  revised,  and  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Legislative 
Committee,  and  submitted  for  the  vote  of  the  people,  July  26,  1845.  • 

On  page  431  of  Mr.  Hines'  book,  he  says :  "In  the  spring  of  1844  a  new- 
Legislative  Committee  was  elected,  which  embraced  two  or  three  law 
yers,  who  arrived  in  the  country  the  previous  fall.  This  committee 
passed  a  vote  recommending  several  important  alterations  in  the  organic 
laws,  which  were  found  to  be,  in  their  practical  operations,  somewhat 
defective.  As  the  people  had  not  yet  surrendered  their  law-making 
power  into  the  hands  of  the  Legislative  Committee,  it  was  necessary  to 
call  an  election  to  ascertain  the  will  of  the  people  in  relation  to  the  pro 
posed  alterations  and  amendments.  This  election  took  place,  and 
resulted  in  the  adoption  of  the  organic  laws,  with  the  proposed  altera 
tions  and  amendments,  by  an  overwhelming  majority.  The  principal 
alterations  thus  effected  relate  to  the  three  powers  of  government, — the 
legislative,  executive,  and  judicial.  Instead  of  a  committee  of  nine, 
whose  acts  were  to  be  confirmed  or  rejected  by  a  subsequent  vote  of 
the  people,  the  legislative  power  was  vested  in  a  House  of  Representa 
tives,  to  consist  of  not  less  than  thirteen  nor  more  than  sixty-one  mem 
bers,  possessing  all  the  powers  usual  to  such  bodies.  Instead  of  a 
committee  of  three,  the  executive  power  was  vested  in  one  person,  to  be 
elected  by  the  qualified  voters  at  the  annual  election,  and  possessing 
the  powers  common  to  the  governors  of  the  different  States." 

We  are  unable  to  understand  Mr.  Hines  when  he  says.  "  As  the  people 
had  not  yet  surrendered  their  law-making  power  into  the  hands  of  the 
Legislative  Committee,  it  was  necessary  to  call  an  election  to  ascertain 
the  will  of  the  people."  This  statement  shows  the  ignorance  of  Mr. 
Hines  as  regards  the  organic  laws  adopted  by  the  people  of  Champoeg. 
Mr.  Saxton.  who  was  in  the  country  at  the  time,  and  took  copies  of 


426  HISTORY  OF  OREGON 

those  laws  attested  by  Mr.  Le  Breton  (which  have  already  been  given), 
found  an  organic  law  with  an  executive,  legislative,  and  judicial  depart 
ment,  the  same  as  the  committee  of  1845,  and  all  that  was  requisite  was 
to  revise,  select  out,  and  define  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  several 
departments. 

As  a  matter  of  policy,  and  to  harmonize  and  consolidate,  as  much  as 
was  possible,  all  the  conflicting  interests  and  influences  in  the  country, 
the  presence  of  British  subjects  was  admitted,  their  treaty  rights  were 
acknowledged  by  our  laws,  aud  they  were  admitted  to  a  voice  and  rep 
resentation  in  the  provisional  government. 

The  liberal  course  pursued  by  the  Legislature  of  1845  has  fixed  the 
deep  stain  of  ingratitude  and  infamy  upon  the  British  subjects  who 
participated  in  our  organization,  and  received  its  benefits  and  pro 
tection,  till  they  had  completed  their  arrangements  for  its  destruction, 
just  as  slavery  grew  under  the  fostering  care  of  a  liberal  and  generous 
government,  and  then  attempted  to  crush  and  destroy  its  protector. 

From  a  review  of  Mr.  Hines'  book,  I  find  that  he  was  on  a  tour  from 
Oregon  to  New  York  by  way  of  China  during  1845  and  184G.  This 
will  account  for  his  want  of  information  regarding  the  political  events 
that  were  taking  place  during  that  time ;  and  also  shows  the  views 
he  entertained  on  leaving  the  country. 

Dr.  McLaughlin  had  completed  his  saw-mill  and  flour-mill  at  Oregon 
City.  The  Milling  Company  had  also  put  up  mills  at  that  place  which 
were  now  in  successful  operation,  and  the  country  generally  was  in  a 
prosperous  condition. 

Dr.  Whitman  had  much  annoyance  and  difficulty  with  the  Indians 
on  account  of  interference  and  tales  told  them  by  old  Toupin,  Doreo, 
Gervais,  the  priests,  and  others  who  were  jealous  of  his  labors  and 
success  among  them. 

He  had  purchased  the  Dalles  station  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  and 
engaged  Mr.  Hinman  to  occupy  it  until  other  arrangements  could  be 
made. 

Mr.  Spalding  was  engaged  in  improving  his  farm,  also  printing  books 
in  the  N"ez  Perce  language  on  his  small  press,  and  translating  and 
printing  portions  of  the  Bible,  for  the  use  of  the  natives.  He  had  a  saw 
mill  and  grist-mill  at  his  station ;  and  about  three  hundred  of  his  In 
dians,  and  one  hundred  at  Dr.  Whitman's,  were  cultivating  patches  of 
ground. 

Messrs.  Walker  and  Eells  were  staying  at  Cimakain,  ready  to  depart 
any  time,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Brouillet.  On  page  9  of  his  narrative,  he 
says :  "  A  missionary  of  the  Spokans,  writing  to  Dr.  Whitman,  as 
early  as  1839,  has .  said :  'The  failure  of  this  mission  is  so  strongly 


BROUILLET'S  LEAVEN.  427 

impressed  upon  my  mind,  that  I  feel  it  necessary  to  have  cane  in  hand, 
and  as  much  as  one  shoe  on,  ready  for  a  move.  I  see  nothing  but  the 
power  of  God  that  can  save  us/  "  Query. — Where  did  Rev.  Vicar- 
General  Brouillet  get  this  letter,  and  for  what  purpose  did  he  preserve 
it  ?  Did  he  find  it  among  Dr.  Whitman's  papers,  when  he  was  hunting 
them  over  to  find  the  vial  of  poison  to  show  the  Indians  as  per  deposi 
tion  in  the  case  ? 

Brouillet  continues:  "These  facts  and  statements  prove  clearly,  I 
think,  that  there  existed  among  the  Indians,  long  before  the  arrival  of 
the  bishop  of  Wallawalla  and  his  clergy,  strong  causes  of  dissatisfac 
tion  against  the  Protestant  missionaries  and  the  Americans  in  general, 
and  that  they  formed  a  leaven  that  had  been  fermenting  several  years" 
This  statement  of  Vicar-General  Brouillet  is  unquestionably  true,  but, 
unfortunately  for  him,  he  is  standing  on  the  outer  line  of  the  circle, 
and  has  no  personal  knowledge  of  inside  influences ;  hence  he  reasons 
from  effect  and  guesses  at  the  cause.  He  is  anxious  to  so  arrange 
cause  and  effect,  as  to  remove  suspicion  of  crime  from  a  sect,  and 
thereby  involves  his  friends  and  himself,  and  furnishes  the  strongest 
proof  of  the  complicity  and  guilt  of  both  in  the  crime  alleged  against 
them.  The  "leaven"  that  had  been  fermenting  is  just  what  we  are 
bringing  to  light.  i 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  were  repairing  and  strengthening  their 
forts,  under  the  plea  that  they  wished  some  bastions  from  which  they 
could  salute  her  Majesty's  ships  on  their  arrival  and  departure  from 
the  river ;  at  the  same  time  they  were  laboring  to  secure  political 
influence  in  the  settlements,  through  their  American  dupes  and  tools. 

While  combining  the  Indian  tribes,  they  were  encouraging  Jesuitical 
religious  teachers  among  them ;  and  while  preparing  for  self-defense, 
they  were  dividing  the  settlement  into  parties  and  factions. 

The  Methodist  Mission  influence  was  but  little,  and  mission  credit 
was  worse  than  greenbacks  in  1864.  As  to  commerce,  it  was  nearly  or 
quite  under  the  control  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  also  the  market 
value  of  all  produce  in  the  country. 


CHAPTER    LH 

1845. — Second  session  of  the  Legislative  Committee. — Mr.  McCarver  removed  from  the 
office  of  Speaker. — Mr.  Applegate's  resolutions. — Protest  of  Gray,  Foisy,  and 
Straight. — A  legislative  incident. — Law  against  dueling. — Dr.  "White  addresses  the 
Legislature. — Resolutions. — Dr.  White  denies  the  right  of  the  settlers  to  organize 
a  provisional  government. — McCarver  signs  documents  without  authority. — Reso 
lutions  by  the  house  on  the  subject. — Impertinent  letter  from  Dr.  White  to  the 
house. — White  cornered  by  President  Polk. — Incidents  in  White's  temperance 
movements. — Proposition  to  repeal  all  laws  for  the  collection  of  debts. — The  Cur 
rency  act. — Adjournment  of  the  Legislature  in  August. — Meets  again  in  December. 
— Proposal  to  locate  the  capital. 

THE  Legislative  Committee,  at  their  second  session,  August  5, 1845, 
met  under  the  revised  and  amended  organic  law,  which  had  been 
previously  adopted  by  the  people  by  a  majority  of  two  hundred  and 
three.  There  were  between  two  and  three  hundred  votes  against  the 
revision  or  amendments.  Many  voted  against  it,  on  account  of  its 
allowing  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  English  and  French  followers 
an  equal  voice  with  the  Americans  and  others,  and  on  account  of  its 
allowing  the  Legislature  the  power  to  regulate  the  introduction,  manu 
facture,  and  sale  of  liquors. 

McCarver  claimed  that  he  was  Speaker  of  the  house,  under  the 
organic  law  as  revised.  This  caused  some  discussion  and  voting,  and 
the  introduction  of  a  resolution  requesting  him  to  resign  his  position  as 
Speaker,  which  he  declined  to  do.  Gray  moved  that  the  vote  electing 
him  Speaker  of  the  house  be  reconsidered.  McCarver  then  proceeded 
to  organize  the  house,  to  suit  his  views  of  matters,  by  appointing  new 
committees,  and  went  forward  as  if  no  previous  committees  had  been 
appointed.  When  his  appointments  were  all  made,  Gray  inquired  if, 
in  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Speaker  McCarver,  the  house  was  properly 
organized.  He  replied  that  it  was.  Gray  then  appealed  to  the  house, 
and  was  sustained,  McCarver  having  denied  his  own  position  by 
appointing  new  committees.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Straight,  Mr.  McCarver 
was  removed  from  his  office  as  Speaker,  and  Robert  Newell  elected 
pro  tern. 

Applegate,  for  reasons  never  fully  explained,  introduced  two  resolu 
tions,  which  show  either  a  short-sighted  view  of  matters,  or  a  foolish 
policy  on  his  part,  to  wit : — 


APPLEGATE'S  RESOLUTIONS. 

"  JResolvecl,  That  the  people  of  Oregon  are  not,  in  the  opinion  of  this 
house,  morally  or  legally  bound  by  any  acts  of  the  officers  or  agents 
of  the  people  not  expressly  authorized  or  sanctioned  by  the  instru 
ment  in  virtue  of  which  they  had  their  official  existence. 

"  Resolved,  further^  That  this  house  can  not  assume,  in  behalf  of 
the  people,  the  payment  of  any  debt,  or  the  refunding  of  any  funds 
borrowed,  or  otherwise  unlawfully  contracted  or  obtained,  without  first 
obtaining  the  consent  of  the  people." 

On  motion,  the  vote  referring  said  resolution  to  committee  of  the 
Avhole  was  reconsidered,  when  the  rules  were  suspended,  the  resolu 
tion  read  a  second  time,  and  referred  to  committee  of  the  whole. 

On  the  fifth  day  of  the  session,  the  resolutions  of  Mr.  Applegate 
were  called  up,  and  Messrs.  Applegate,  Garrison,  Hendricks,  Hill,  H. 
Lee,  B.  Lee,  McClure,  and  Smith  voted  for,  and  Foisy,  Gray,  Straight, 
and  McCarver  against.  Newell  asked  to  be  excused.  These  resolu 
tions  had  the  effect,  designed  or  not,  to  destroy  the  credit  of  the  pro 
visional  government. 

On  the  sixth  day  of  the  session,  Gray,  Foisy,  and  Straight  presented, 
and,  on  motion,  were  allowed  to  enter,  their  protest  against  their  adop 
tion,  as  follows  : —  ' 

"  Whereas,  A  resolution,  with  a  preamble,  containing  a  direct  and 
positive  censure  upon  the  proceedings  of  the  Oregon  government,  was 
introduced  into  this  house  by  Jesse  Applegate,  asserting  that  this 
house,  and  the  people  of  Oregon,  are  not  morally  or  legally  bound  for 
any  act  of  said  government,  to  the  payment  of  any  debts  contracted, 
or  unlawfully  borrowed,  except  they  had  previously  obtained  the  con 
sent  of  the  people. 

"  And  whereas,  From  the  wording  of  said  resolution,  two  construc 
tions  may  be  placed  upon  it ;  the  one  amounting  to  a  repudiation  of  all 
debts  heretofore  contracted,  or  money  borrowed ;  the  other  implying 
a  want  of  confidence  in  the  agents  and  officers  of  this  government ; 
therefore, 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  decidedly  and  solemnly  protest  against  the 
adoption  of  any  such  resolutions  or  expressions  by  this  house,  as  they 
not  only  do  no  good,  but  tend  to  great  evil,  in  destroying  the  confi 
dence  of  the  people  in  the  agents  and  officers  of  this  government, 
without  sufficient  cause.  "  W.  H.  GRAY. 

"M.  G.  FOISY. 

"OREGON  CITY,  Aug.  7,  1845."  "  H.  STRAIGHT. 

The  effect  of  these  resolutions  was  at  once  manifest.  Measures  were 
taken  to  procure  the  launch  of  the  Peacock  (which  had  been  left  in 


430  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

the.,»care  of  T)r.  McLaughlin  by  Captain  Wilkes),  for  a  pilot-boat  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia.  The  doctor  informed  the  committee 
that  he  was  not  authorized  to  give  it  in  charge  of  any  irresponsible 
parties,  without  an  order  from  as  high  authority  as  that  from  which 
he  had  received  it.  Hence  the  launch  was  allowed  to  rot  upon  the 
beach  at  Astoria;  Mr.  McClure,  from  that  place,  being  one  who 
voted  to  repudiate  responsibility  on  the  part  of  the  provisional  gov 
ernment. 

On  the  11  tli  of  August,  in  the  midst  of  business  under  the  order  of 
the  day,  Mr.  Applegate  came  in,  apparently  under  considerable  excite 
ment,  and  in  quite  an  earnest  manner  asked  that  the  rule  be  sus 
pended,  to  allow  him  to  present  a  bill  to  prevent  dueling.  No  immedi 
ate  or  pressing  reason  was  assigned,  but  from  the  earnest  manner  of  Mr. 
Applegate,  and  from  what  a  number  of  the  members  knew,  or  pretended 
to  know,  the  rule  was  suspended,  Mr.  Applegate's  bill  to  prevent  dueling 
read  first  time  ;  rule  further  suspended,  his  bill  read  by  title  second  and 
third  time  and  passed,  and  on  his  further  motion,  a  special  messenger, 
P.  G.  Stewart,  Esq.,  was  sent  with  it  to  the  governor,  for  his  approval 
and  signature ;  and  in  half  an  hour's  time  from  its  introduction  and 
reading  in  the  house  it  became  a  law  in  this  vast  country,  bounded  by 
the  Russian  possessions  on  the  north,  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the  east, 
California  on  the  south,  and  the  Pacific  on  the  west. 

Not  long  after  this  telegraphic  law  on  dueling  was  passed,  it  was  dis 
covered  that  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Holderness  had  considered 
himself  insulted  and  slandered  by  some  report  said  to  have  originated 
writh  Dr.  White.  Holderness  was  about  to  send  him  a  challenge,  or  at 
least  there  was  a  prospect  that  they  might  fight,  if  either  of  them  had 
the  courage  to  do  so.  This  law  gave  the  doctor  an  honorable  excuse 
to  decline  the  challenge,  and  have  Holderness  indicted  and  punished 
for  sending  it.  This  matter  was  engineered  through  so  handsomely 
by  Mr.  Applegate,  that  Dr.  White  expressed  himself  highly  gratified 
and  pleased. 

On  the  next  day,  the  12th,  Mr.  Applegate  was  honored  with  an  im 
portant  dispatch  from  Dr.  White,  which  he  presented  in  due  form, 
together  with  a  resolution  of  thanks  to  Dr.  White,  and  an  order  was 
entered  on  the  journal  to  have  the  doctor's  communication  filed  for 
publication.  This  was  not  exactly  what  the  doctor  wanted,  as  the 
sequel  will  show.  He  had  found  that  Applegate  had  the  talent  and 
influence  requisite  to  carry  through  the  resolutions  necessary  to  accom 
plish  his  purposes. 

He,  having  spent  a  part  of  the  summer  in  running  about  the  Walla- 
met  Valley,  made  a  trip  over  to  the  coast,  and  one  into  the  Cascade 


APPLEGATE'S  AND   DR.  WHITE'S   MOVES.  431 

Mountains;  wrote  a  journal  of  these  trips,  and  presented  it  to  the 
house  through  Mr.  Applegate.  After  White's  journal  was  read, 
Applegate  presented  a  resolution,  that  the  thanks  of  this  house  are  due 
to  Dr.  E.  "White  and  his  party  for  their  meritorious  exertions  to  find 
a  passage  through  the  Cascade  Mountains,  and  that  his  account  be 
filed  for  publication.  On  motion,  White  was  allowed  to  address  the 
house,  which  he  did  in  his  usual  self-lauding,  plausible  manner,  insinu 
ating  the  great  labor  and  benefit  he  had  done,  in  keeping  the  Indians 
quiet  and  in  exploring  the  country.  His  chaff  and  bombast  secured 
the  co-operation  of  Robert  Newell  and  Mr.  Applegate.  On  the  14th, 
Mr.  Applegate  informed  the  house  that  he  had  in  his  possession  several 
official  documents,  belonging  to  Dr.  E.  White,  which  he  was  requested 
to  lay  before  the  house.  The  report  and  documents  were  received. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Applegate — 

"  Resolved,  That,  whereas  the  adoption  of  the  amended  organic  law 
by  the  people  of  Oregon  was  an  act  of  necessity  rather  than  choice, 
and  was  intended  to  give  to  the  people  the  protection  which,  of  right, 
should  be  extended  to  them  by  their  government,  and  not  as  an  act 
of  defiance  or  disregard  of  the  authority  or  laws  of  the  United  States ; 
therefore, 

"It  is  further  resolved,  1st.  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  house,  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  in  establishing  a  Territorial  government, 
should  legalize  the  acts  of  the  people  in  this  country,  so  far  as  they  are 
in  accordance  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  2d.  That 
Dr.  Elijah  White,  sub-Indian  agent  of  Oregon,  be  requested  to  furnish 
a  copy  of  the  amended  organic  law  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 
3d.  That  these  resolutions  be  indorsed  on  said  copy,  with  the  vote  of 
this  house  adopting  the  same." 

On  the  adoption  of  the  above,  the  vote  was  unanimous,  which  vote 
was  taken  by  yeas  and  nays ;  and,'  on  motion,  the  house  decided  that 
the  members  should  not  sign  their  names  to  said  resolutions. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  statement  of  Applegate  in  the  first  part  of  this 
resolution,  or  preamble,  that  he  wished  to  deny  an  attempt  to  resist  the 
government  of  the  United  States  on  the  part  of  the  people  and  pro 
visional  government ;  and  the  fact  that  Dr.  White  had  allowed  him  to 
examine  his  official  papers,  and  present  them  to  the  Legislative  Com 
mittee,  shows  the  manner  he  was  working  with  Applegate  to  get  docu 
ments,  resolutions,  and  papers  from  the  Legislature  into  his  hands ;  also 
the  desperate  effort  there  was  made  to  get  a  unanimous  vote  favoring 
White  as  the  bearer  of  those  documents. 

Dr.  White  had  from  the  first  denied  the  right  of  the  settlers  to  organ 
ize  a  provisional  goverment  unless  they  would  elect  him  as  their  gov- 


432  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

ernor.  Applegate  is  caught  in  his  trap,  as  we  shall  sec,  and  from  that 
day  he  began  to  lose  his  influence,  and  soon  found  that  he  had  commit 
ted  an  egregious  mistake,  notwithstanding  he  had  obtained  a  unani 
mous  vote,  to  place  those  documents  in  Dr.  White's  hands.  In  order 
to  head  off  McCarver,  the  house  had  voted  that  the  members  should  not 
sign  their  names  to  the  resolutions.  McCarver  could  not  withstand  the 
temptation  to  get  his  name  as  Speaker  of  the  Oregon  Legislature  before 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States ;  so,  as  soon  as  the  documents  came 
into  White's  hands,  he  went  to  the  clerk  and  attached  his  name  as 
Speaker  of  the  house.  Newell  was  not  quite  satisfied,  or  rather  Dr. 
White  was  not ;  so  he  got  Newell  to  present  a  resolution,  as  follows  : — 

"  Resolved,  That  this  house  recommend  to  the  favorable  considera 
tion  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  the  just  claims  of  Dr.  E. 
White,  sub-Indian  agent,  for  a  remuneration  for  the  heavy  expenses  by 
him  incurred,  in  attempting  to  discover  a  southern  passage  through  the 
Cascade  Mountains." 

In  the  afternoon  session  the  resolution  of  Mr.  Newell  was  called  up, 
and,  on  its  final  passage,  the  yeas  and  nays  were  demanded,  and  were 
as  follows : — 

Yeas — Messrs.  Applegate,  Foisy,  Hendricks,  H.  Lee,  McClure, 
Newell,  Straight,  and  the  Speaker — 8. 

JVays — Messrs.  Gray,  Garrison,  Hill,  B.  Lee,  and  Smith — 5. 

So  the  resolution  was  passed. 

Dr.  White  waited  for  the  passage  of  this  resolution  (keeping  quiet 
as  to  McCarver's  signing  the  others  in  violation  of  the  order  of  the 
house),  and  as  soon  as  it  was  safely  in  his  pocket,  left  for  Vancouver, 
on  his  way  to  the  States. 

White  had  no  sooner  gone,  than  it  leaked  out  that  McCarver  had 
signed  the  documents,  and  White  had  broken  the  seals,  and  destroyed 
private  letters  intrusted  to  him  to  convey  to  the  States,  and  had  made 
Garrison  his  confidant  respecting  breaking  open  and  destroying  the 
letters.  Here  was  a  muss  on  hand  such  as  none  but  White  and  Mc 
Carver  could  "kick  up"  Applegate  was  too  much  excited  and  insulted 
by  these  men  to  say  any  thing ;  but  he  presented  through  B.  Lee  a 
resolution  as  follows : — 

"Resolved,  That  M.  M.  McCarver  has  been  opposed  to  the  organic 
law,  as  adopted  by  the  people  of  Oregon  ;  and,  contrary  to  the  voice  of 
this  house  in  regular  session,  clandestinely,  and  in  a  manner  unworthy 
the  confidence  reposed  in  him,  placed  his  name  to  a  copy  of  those  laws 
transmitted  to  the  United  States,  thereby  conveying  a  false  impression  ; 
and  did,  also,  sign  his  name  to  two  resolutions,  contrary  to  a  direct 
vote  of  this  house  ;  therefore, 


DOCUMENTS   SENT  FOR.  433 

"  It  is  further  resolved,  That  we  disapprove  of  the  course  he  has 
pursued,  and  feel  ourselves  under  the  humiliating  necessity  of  signify 
ing  the  same  to  the  United  States  government,  by  causing  a  copy  of 
this  resolution  to  accompany  those  documents." 

Which  was  received,  and  referred  to  committee  of  the  whole. 

In  the  afternoon,  Dr.  J.  E.  Long,  clerk  of  the  house,  A.  L.  Lovejoy, 
Smith,  and  Hill  were  called  before  the  house,  and  put  on  oath,  to  state 
what  they  knew  of  the  matter.  Mr.  Applegate  was  chairman.  The 
committee  rose  and  reported  that  they  had  been  engaged  in  investigat 
ing  the  subject  referred  to  in  Mr.  B.  Lee's  resolution,  but  had  not 
adopted  the  resolution.  McCarver  had  been  allowed  to  explain  his 
course. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Applegate — 

*'  Resolved,  That,  whereas  a  copy  of  the  organic  laws  of  Oregon, 
together  with  some  resolutions,  intended  to  be  sent  to  the  United  States, 
have  not  been  attested  and  dispatched  according  to  the  directions  of 
this  house ;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  clerk  dispatch  for  them  a  messenger,  to  Van 
couver,  with  authority  to  bring  said  documents  back,  and  that  he  deliver 
them  to  the  secretary,  and  that  the  expenses  incurred  be  paid  by  the 
members  of  this  house  who  voted  for  the  resolution." 

On  the  adoption  of  which  the  yeas  and  nays  were  called,  a-nd  were  as 
follows  : — 

Yeas — Messrs.  Applegate,  Gray,  B.  Lee,  McClure,  and  Newell — 5. 

Nays — Messrs.  Hill,  Smith,  and  Straight — 3. 

So  the  resolution  was  adopted.  Messrs.  Foisy,  Garrison,  Hendricks, 
and  the  Speaker  were  excused  from  voting. 

On  motion,  the  house  went  into  committee  of  the  whole,  Mr.  Apple- 
gate  in  the  chair. 

The  committee  rose,  and  reported,  that  the  resolution  of  B.  Lee  hav 
ing  been  under  consideration,  was  laid  upon  the  table. 

It  is  but  justice  to  state  that  the  clerk  of  the  house,  J.  E.  Long, 
favored  Dr.  White's  and  Mr.  McCarver's  course,  and  allowed  McCarver 
to  sign  the  documents  he  well  knew  the  house  did  not  wish  him  to  sign. 
A  majority  of  the  house  were  inclined  to  believe  that  White  had  been 
slandered  ;  and  had  McCarver  allowed  the  documents  to  go  as  per  vote, 
White's  designs,  as  stated  by  his  opponents,  would  not  have  been 
revealed ;  so  the  messenger  was  sent  for  the  documents  on  account 
of  McCarver's  course. 

August  16,  1845. — The  House  met  pursuant  to  adjournment. 

The  rules  were  suspended  to  allow  the  introduction  of  resolutions, 
when,  on  motion  of  Mr.  McClure,  it  was 
28 


43  ±  HISTORY  OF  OREGOX. 

"  Resolved,  That,  whereas  the  Speaker  of  this  house  has  signed  cer 
tain  documents,  ordered  to  be  sent  to  the  United  States  by  a  vote  of 
this  Legislature,  from  a  mistaken  sense  of  duty,  and  not  from  contumacy 
or  contempt  for  this  house  ;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  M.  M.  McCarver,  said  Speaker,  have  leave  of  ab 
sence,  for  the  purpose  of  following  Dr.  E.  White  to  Vancouver;  and 
this  house  enjoins  that  said  Speaker  erase  his  name  from  said  docu 
ments,  to  wit,  the  organic  laws,  and  two  resolutions  in  favor  of  Dr. 
E.  White." 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Applegate,  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  it  was  not  the  intention  of  this  house,  in  passing 
resolutions  in  favor  of  Dr.  E.  White,  to  recommend  him  to  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  as  a  suitable  person  to  fill  any  office  in  this 
Territory ;  and, 

"  Re  it  further  resolved,  That  the  clerk  of  this  house  forward,  by 
some  suitable  person,  an  attested  copy  of  this  resolution,  to  the  United 
States  government." 

The  house  appointed  J.  M.  Garrison,  Speaker,  pro  tern. 

McCarver,  being  thus  plainly  invited,  left  the  house,  and  found  that 
the  clerk's  messenger  had  already  gone  for  the  documents.  He  returned 
in  the  afternoon  and  induced  Mr.  Smith,  from  Tualatin,  to  present  the 
following  resolution  : — 

"  Resolved,  That  the  vote  requiring  the  Speaker  to  go  in  quest  of  Dr. 
E.  White,  for  the  purpose  of  erasing  his  name  from  certain  documents 
in  his  possession  to  be  by  him  conveyed  to  the  United  States,  be  recon 
sidered,  and  the  Speaker  restored  to  the  chair." 

On  the  1 8th  of  August,  the  arrival  of  a  letter  from  Dr.  E.  White  was 
announced,  which  was  read,  as  follows  : — 

August  17,  1845. 
To  the  Hon.,  etc.  : 

GENTLEMEN, — Being  on  my  way,  and  having  but  a  moment  to  reflect, 
I  have  been  at  much  of  a  loss  which  of  your  two  resolutions  most  to 
respect,  or  which  to  obey ;  but  at  length  have  become  satisfied  that  the 
first  was  taken  most  soberly,  and,  as  it  answers  my  purpose  best,  I 
pledge  myself  to  adhere  strictly  to  that.  Sincerely  wishing  you  good 
luck  in  legislating, 

I  am,  dear  sirs,  very  respectfully  yours, 

E.  WHITE. 

On  the  20th,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Applegate,  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  the  secretary  be  requested  to  forward  to  the  United 
States  government,  through  the  American  consul  at  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  a  copy  of  the  articles  of  compact,  as  adopted  by  the  people  of 


DR.  WHITE'S   DUPLICITY.  435 

Oregon  Territory,  on  the  last  Saturday  of  July,  A.  D.  1845  ;  and  that  the 
same  be  signed  by  the  governor,  and  attested  by  the  secretary ;  also,  all 
resolutions  adopted  by  this  house  relative  to  sending  said  documents  by 
E.  White,  late  Indian  agent  of  this  Territory  ;  also,  a  copy  of  the  letter 
of  E.  White,  directed  to  this  house." 

These  documents-  and  papers,  with  depositions  respecting  White's 
opening  and  destroying  private  letters,  were  prepared,  duly  signed,  and 
sent  on  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  by  Captain  Couch,  of  the  Lausanne, 
arid  reached  Washington  just  in  time  for  President  Polk  to  refuse 
White  an  important  commission  in  New  Mexico.  The  President,  on 
receiving  the  documents  and  learning  of  White's  course,  asked  an  ex 
planation,  which  he  at  first  declined  to  give,  on  account  of  an  attempt, 
as  he  alleged,  of  some  low  blackguards  in  Oregon  to  slander  him.  The 
legislative  documents  were  referred  to,  when  he  found  he  was  cornered, 
and  left  the  President's  house  without  his  appointment. 

Thus  ended,  for  a  time,  the  official  course  of  a  base  and  unprincipled 
man,  who  seemed  only  to  live  and  move  for  selfish  ends.  His  influence 
as  a  missionary,  and  as  an  officer  of  the  government,  were  alike  vile  and 
unprincipled.  He  sought  friends  and  partisans  only  to  deceive  and  betray 
them.  Applegate,  McCarver,  Garrison,  Lee,  McClure,  and  Newell  were 
compelled  to  acknowledge  his  deception.  In  fact,  no  one  but  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company  could  make  any  use  of  him,  and  with  them  he  was 
considered  an  irresponsible  man,  and  only  useful  as  a  tool  to  combine 
the  Indians,  and  divide  and  destroy  the  influence  of  the  settlement,  as 
he  had  done  that  of  the  Methodist  Mission. 

The  history  of  Dr.  White,  as  connected  with  Pacific  City  and  Spirit 
ualism,  and  his  secret  agency  under  President  Lincoln's  administration, 
are  of  small  moment  when  compared  with  the  moral  blight  he  fixed  on 
the  cause  of  missions  and  religion,  in  his  early  relations  in  Oregon.  All 
who  have  ever  attempted  to  associate  with  him,  or  assist  him,  have  been 
made  to  feel  his  immoral  influence.  He  made  great  professions  of  sus 
taining  the  temperance  cause,  while  acting  as  Indian  agent,  and  still 
allowed  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  do  as  they  pleased  with  their 
liquors,  without  a  single  word  of  complaint  or  remonstrance  to  the 
American  government,  while  he  pursued  a  high-handed  and  injudicious 
course  toward  the  American  citizen  in  his  efforts  to  prevent  the  intro 
duction  or  manufacture  of  liquors  in  the  country.  In  his  zeal,  he  boarded 
a  vessel  of  which  Captain  J.  H.  Couch  was  master,  and  asserted  his  right 
to  search  and  seize  all  the  liquors  he  had  on  board.  Captain  Couch, 
knowing  his  rights  and  duties  better  than  the  Indian  agent  did  his, 
ordered  his  men  to  get  ready  a  couple  of  swivels  he  had  on  board,  rang 
ing  them  fore  and  aft  along  the  vessel.  He  then  said  to  Mr.  Indian 


436  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Agent.  "If  you  are  able  to  take  ray  ship,  you  can  search  and  seize  her, 
and  not  otherwise."  The  doctor  found  he  was  dealing  with  the  wrong 
person,  and  left,  to  visit  Mrs.  Cooper,  who  had  recently  arrived  in  the 
country  from  Sydney,  New  South  Wales,  with  a  supply  of  liquors.  He 
succeeded  in  getting  a  dram  from  "  Old  Mother  Cooper,"  as  she  was 
called,  and  inquired  if  she  had  any  more  like  it.  The  old  woman  had 
by  this  time  a  suspicion  of  his  object,  and  informed  him  that,  if  she  had, 
he  could  have  no  more. 

Soon  after,  he  learned  that  Dick  McCary  had  put  up  a  teapot  dis 
tillery  somewhere  near  his  own  house.  He  then  got  a  party  of  men 
and  went  down  and  destroyed  the  whole  concern,  except  the  kettle, 
which  answered  for  a  bell,  upon  which  he  beat  and  drummed  on  his  way 
back  to  Oregon  City,  and  then  took  an  adz  and  stove  a  hole  in  it,  thus 
destroying  it.  If  this  had  been  done  on  the  ground,  no  exceptions  would 
have  been  taken  to  it ;  but  White's  proceedings  disgusted  the  friends  of 
temperance  so  much,  that  a  few  days  after,  when  Newell  presented  a 
communication  from  him  to  the  Legislature,  with  a  bill  to  prevent  the 
sale  of  liquor,  it  was  defeated — 5  for  and  8  against. 

The  governor,  having  confidence  in  the  morality  and  honesty  of  the 
people,  suggested  in  his  message  the  repeal  of  all  laws  for  the  collection 
of  debts.  He  seemed  to  be  of  the  opinion,  that  as  they  had  lived  and 
prospered  under  the  mission  and  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  rule  without 
any  such  laws,  the  same  rule  would  apply  to  a  more  numerous  and  civ 
ilized  community.  He  was  sustained  in  his  opinion  by  Applegate,  Hen- 
dricks,  H.  Lee,  B.  Lee,  and  Newell — 5  ;  Foisy,  Gray,  Garrison,  Hill, 
McCarver,  McClure,  Straight,  and  Smith — 8,  were  of  a  different  opinion. 

This  vote  seemed  to  annoy  Applegate,  as  he  had  taken  an  active  part 
in  shaping  the  governor's  suggestions  into  a  bill  to  prevent  litigation, 
and  he  seemed  to  insist  upon  the  experiment  being  tried  in  a  more  ex 
tensive  manner  in  the  government  of  Oregon.  It  is  due  to  this  legisla 
tive  body  and  to  the  governor  to  state,  that  none  of  them  had  ever  had 
any  experience  in  law-making  until  they  found  themselves  in  a  country 
where  there  were  no  laws,  and  where  the  representatives  were  without 
law-books  (with  the  single  exception  of  a  copy  of  the  statutes  of  Iowa) 
to  guide  them.  They  had  to  originate,  revise,  and  do  as  the  majority 
thought  best,  in  all  the  laws  presented.  That  they  were  adapted  to  the 
time  and  the  people  then  in  the  country  there  can  be  no  question.  This 
shows  the  innate  love  of  law  and  order  in  the  American  people,  as  also 
a  disposition  to  abide  by  and  sustain  right  principles,  though  not  imme 
diately  in  the  presence  of  prisons  and  punishment. 

Had  there  been  no  foreign  influences  in  the  country,  it  would,  per 
haps,  have  been  safe  to  risk  the  governor's  suggestion,  and  Applegate's 


CURRENCY  LAW.  437 

experiment.  I  arrive  at  this  conclusion  from  my  experience  in  four 
times  crossing  the  continent,  and  in  visiting  the  early  mining  regions 
of  California,  British  Columbia,  and  Oregon.  In  all  American  cara 
vans  and  mines,  the  company  and  miners  make  their  own  laws.  In 
British  mines,  the  government  makes  the  laws,  and  the  revenue  officers 
enforce  them.  So  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  Roman  mis 
sions  :  the  committee  in  London,  and  the  pope  in  Rome,  give  their 
subjects  certain  laws  by  which  to  be  governed  ;  and  whenever  those 
laws  come  in  conflict  with  the  more  liberal  American  idea  of  govern 
ment,  there  is  opposition ;  for  the  disposition  to  oppress  and  the  desire 
to  be  free  can  never  harmonize.  With  the  one  is  organized  wealth  and 
superstition,  backed  by  irons,  flogging,  and  ignorance.  With  the  other 
is  liberty  and  the  love  of  right,  sustained  by  intelligence,  honesty,  and 
virtue.  No  one  acquainted  with  the  early  history  of  the  people  of 
Oregon  can  fail  to  admire  their  virtue  and  stability,  and  the  firmness 
they  displayed  in  maintaining  their  natural  rights.  We  have  already 
explained  the  secret  influences  that  were  combined  to  hold  them  in  a 
state  of  half-savage  and  half-religious  or  ecclesiastical  vassalage,  till 
some  action  should  be  taken  by  the  United  States  government. 

This  state  of  things  did  not  accord  with  the  feelings  of  a  great  major 
ity  of  the  people.  They  had  ruled  their  own  individual  actions  too 
long  to  submit  quietly  to  any  religious  or  political  power,  in  which 
they  had  no  voice.  Hence  they  were  ready  for  any  mutual  organiza 
tion,  that  was  of  their  own  choice  and  creation. 

They  adopted  a  system  of  currency  suitable  to  the  time  and  country. 
This  system  became  necessary,  from  the  known  disposition  of  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company  to  oppress  and  force  payment,  in  what  did  not  then 
exist  in  sufficient  quantity  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  settlement ;  besides, 
they  held  the  commercial  power ;  and  here  again  protection  was  re 
quired.  The  two  petitions  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  of 
1840  and  1842  state  their  policy  as  to  internal  matters.  The  first 
section  of  this  currency  law  is : — 

"  -Z?e  it  enacted  by  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Oregon  Territory : 
1st.  That,  in  addition  to  gold  and  silver,  treasury  drafts,  approved 
orders  on  solvent  merchants,  and  good  merchantable  wheat  at  the 
market  price,  delivered  at  such  place  as  it  is  customary  for  people  to 
receive  their  wheat  at,  shall  be  a  lawful  tender  for  the  payment  of 
taxes  and  judgments  rendered  in  the  courts  of  Oregon  Territory,  and 
for  the  payment  of  all  debts  contracted  in  Oregon  Territory,  where  no 
special  contracts  have  beeq  made  to  the  contrary. 

"  2d.  The  personal  estate  of  every  individual,  company,  body  politic 
or  corporate,  including  his,  her,  or  their  goods  or  chattels,  also  town  or 


438  HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 

city  property,  or  improvements  claimed  and  owned  in  virtue  of  occu 
pancy,  secured  and  allowed  by  the  treaty  between  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States,  shall  be  subject  to  execution,  to  be  taken  and 
sold  according  to  the  provisions  of  this  act;  excepting,  that  wearing- 
apparel  shall  not  be  considered  as  any  part  of  the  estate  of  any  de 
fendant  or  defendants  in  execution ;  and  no  land  claim  or  improvement 
upon  a  land  claim,  held  according  to  the  laws  of  this  Territory,  shall 
be  subject  to  execution  ;  and  no  stay  upon  execution  shall  be  permitted 
or  allowed,  except  by  the  consent  of  the  party  in  whose  favor  the  exe 
cution  has  been  issued,  nor  for  any  time  other  than  the  time  agreed 
upon  by  the  parties. 

"  3d.  Specifies  that  personal  property  shall  be  sold  previous  to  town 
lots. 

"  4th.  Exempts  (if  a  family)  one  Bible,  one  cow  and  calf,  one  horse, 
or  yoke  of  cattle,  five  sheep,  five  hogs,  household  and  kitchen  furniture 
not  to  exceed  in  value  thirty  dollars,  one  stove  fixed  up  in  the  house, 
one  bed  for  every  two  in  the  family,  farming  utensils  not  to  exceed  in 
value  fifty  dollars,  one  month's  provisions  for  all  the  family,  all  mechan 
ics'  necessary  tools,  and  all  the  books  of  private  libraries  not  to  exceed 
one  hundred  dollars'  worth." 

Who  says  we  were  not  willing  to  give  a  poor  family  a  good  show  to 
start  within  Oregon  in  1845  ? 

u  5th.  Fifteen  days'  notice  of  any  sale  was  to  be  given. 

"  6th.  No  property  was  to  be  sold  for  less  than  two-thirds  its  ap 
praised  value." 

On  the  second  section  of  this  act,  there  was  a  long  and  animated  dis 
cussion,  Newell  and  Garrison  claiming  that  we  had  no  right  to  subject 
the  property  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  the  Methodist  and 
other  missions,  to  our  laws  ;  McCarver  and  Hill,  that  Ave  ought  to 
exempt  town  sites  and  lots  from  execution.  On  its  final  passage,  the 
vote  was  Applegate,  Foisy,  Gray,  Hendricks,  McClure,  Smith,  Straight, 
and  II.  Lee — 8,  for;  Garrison,  Hill,  B.  Lee,  Newell,  and  McCarver — 5, 
against. 

This  body  adjourned  sine  die  on  the  20th  of  August,  1845,  and  in 
consequence  of  there  being  no  provision  made  for  a  new  election  in  the 
amended  organic  compact,  they  were  again  called  to  meet  on  Tuesday, 
December  2,  1845,  in  accordance  with  the  organic  law,  to  arrange  and 
fill  up  any  deficiencies  in  the  offices  and  laws. 

Applegate  had  resigned.  There  were  present,  Foisy,  Garrison, 
Newell,  and  Barton  Lee  from  Champoeg ;,  Gray  and  Straight  from 
Clackamas ;  Hill  and  McCarver  from  Tualatin ;  and  McClure  from 
Clatsop. 


JEFFERSON'S   MANUAL.  439 

There  were  absent,  from  Yamhill,  Hendricks ;  from  Tualatin,  J.  M. 
Smith;  and  from  Clackamas,  II.  A.  G.  Lee. 

Newell,  of  Champoeg,  was  elected  on  the  final  vote  as  Speaker  ;  Dr. 
J.  E.  Long,  clerk. 

Jefferson's  Manual,  which  had  for  the  first  time  strayed  across  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  was  presented  to  the  house,  and  used  to  govern  its 
proceedings,  so  far  as  it  was  applicable.  I  think  it  must  have  come 
into  the  Multnomah  Circulating  Library,  in  part  payment  for  a  share  in 
that  institution.  Gray  moved  its  adoption  to  govern  the  proceedings 
of  the  house,  which  was  considered  organized  by  the  election  of  Speak 
er,  clerk,  and  sergeant-at-arms. 

On  the  second  day  all  the  members  were  present  except  Applegate. 
The  governor  was  called  upon  to  issue  his  warrant  to  fill  the  vacancy, 
which  he  did.  I  think,  however,  that  no  election  was  held,  as  no  rep 
resentative  appeared  to  claim  the  seat. 

An  effort  was  made  to  locate  the  seat  of  government,  but  failed,  on 
account  of  Dr.  McLaughlin  not  having  put  in  his  bid  in  time  to  have 
it  considered  by  the  house  ;  and  a  remonstrance  was  got  up  by  Erma- 
tinger  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  influence,  with  sixty  names 
attached,  against  locating  it  at  all. 

This  was  in  accordance  with  the  short-sighted  policy  of  Dr.  McLaugh 
lin,  aided  by  the  influence  secured  over  the  people  by  such  men  as 
Ermatinger,  Long,  Newell,  and  McCarver,  who  had  become  a  resident 
of  Clackamas,  while  he  represented  Tualatin  County. 


CHAPTER  LIII. 

The  liquor  law. — Amended  act  of  1845. — Message  of  the  governor  on  the  same. — Eepeal 
of  the  prohibitory  and  passage  of  the  license  law. — Letter  of  James  Douglas. — 
Reply  of  Mr.  Samuel  Parker. — Dr.  Tolmie's  resolution  on  the  judiciary. — The 
governor's  veto  of  the  license  law. — Immigration  for  Oregon  and  California  in  1846. 
— Arrival  of  the  brig  Henry. — The  Oregon  Printing  Association. — The  Sjjectator, 
the  first  newspaper  in  Oregon. — W.  G.  T.  Vault,  first  editor. — H.  A.  G.  Lee,  second 
editor. — G-.  L.  Curry,  third  editor. — Judge  Wait,  fourth  editor. 

The  Liquor  Laic. — Peter  II.  Burnett  framed  a  law  on  this  subject, 
which  was  revised  by  Newell  in  the  summer  of  1  845,  and  lost  on  the 
final  vote.  In  December,  1845,  Gray,  from  committee  on  ways  and 
means,  reported  ^a  bill  on  ardent  spirits,  expressing  the  views,  and 
gaining  the  approval  of  a  decided  majority  of  the  people.  Governor 
Abernethy,  in  his  annual  message  the  next,  year,  expressed  an  opinion 
that  this  law  required  some  amendment,  but,  by  combining  the  whole 
liquor  influence  in  the  country,  the  law  was  repealed,  and  a  license  law 
substituted,  by  a  two-thirds  vote  over  his  veto  ;  while,  at  the  same  time, 
nearly  two-thirds  of  the  voters  of  the  Territory  voted  to  prohibit  the 
sale  of  liquor,  instead  of  to  regulate  it,  as  expressed  in  the  organic  law. 

The  law,  as  reported  by  the  committee  of  ways  and  means,  was 
passed  December  6,  1845,  by  the  following  vote:  Gray,  Garrison,  Hen- 
dricks,  II.  Lee,  B.  Lee,  McClure,  and  McCarver — 7,  for;  Foisy,  Hill, 
Straight,  and  Newell — 4,  against. 

On  the  8th,  the  Monday  following  this  vote  (Hendricks  and  Barton 
Lee  having  been  treated  and  tampered  with),  on  motion  of  B.  Lee — 

"  Resolved,  That  the  house  now  reconsider  the  vote  on  the  final  pas 
sage  of  the  bill  on  ardent  spirits." 

Yeas — Hendricks,    Hill,    B.  Lee,    Smith,   Straight,  and   Newell — 6. 

Nays — Foisy,  Gray,  Garrison,  H.  Lee,  McCarver,  and  McClure — 6. 

So  the  motion  to  reconsider  was  lost,  and  the  bill  published  in  the 
first  newspaper  ever  published  on  this  coast,  as  provided  for  in  the  bill 
itself,  which  is  as  follows : — 

Amended  Act  of  1845. 

SECTION  2.  That  if  any  person  shall  hereafter  sell,  barter,  give,  or 
trade  any  ardent  spirits  of  any  kind  whatever,  directly  or  indirectly,  to 
any  person  within  the  Territory  of  Oregon,  he  shall  forfeit  and  pay  the 
sum  of  twenty  dollars  for  each  and  every  such  sale,  trade,  barter,  or 


PROHIBITORY   LIQUOR   LAW. 

gift,  to  be  recovered  by  indictment  in  the  County  Court,  or  before  a 
justice  of  the  peace,  without  the  form  of  pleading. 

SEC.  3.  That  if  any  person  shall  hereafter  establish  or  carry  on  any 
manufactory  or  distillery  of  ardent  spirits  in  Oregon,  he  shall  be  subject 
to  indictment  before  the  County  Court,  as  for  a  nuisance,  and  if  con 
victed,  he  shall  be  fined  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars,  and  the  court 
shall  issue  an  order  to  the  sheriff,  directing  him  to  seize  and  destroy  the 
distilling  apparatus,  which  order  the  sheriff  shall  execute. 

SEC.  4.  Whenever  it  shall  come  to  the  knowledge  of  any  officer  of  this 
government,  or  any  private  citizen,  that  any  kind  of  spirituous  liquors 
are  being  distilled  or  manufactured  in  Oregon,  they  are  hereby  author 
ized  and  required  to  proceed  to  the  place  where  such  illicit  manufacture 
is  known  to  exist,  and  seize  the  distilling  apparatus,  and  deliver  the 
same  to  the  nearest  district  judge  or  justice  of  the  peace,  whose  duty  it 
shall  be  immediately  to  issue  his  warrant  and  cause  the  house  and 
premises  of  the  person  against  whom  such  warrant  shall  be  issued  to  be 
further  searched,  and  in  case  any  kind  of  spirituous  liquors  are  found  in 
or  about  said  premises,  or  any  implements  or  apparatus  that  have  the 
appearance  of  having  been  used,  or  constructed  for  the  purpose  of  manu 
facturing  any  kind  of  spirituous  liquors,  the  officer  who  shall  have  been 
duly  authorized  to  execute  such  warrant  shall  seize  all  such  apparatus, 
implements,  and  spirituous  liquors,  and  deliver  the  same  to  the  judge  or 
justice  of  the  peace  who  issued  the  said  warrant.  Said  officer  shall  also, 
arrest  the  person  or  persons  in  or  about  whose  premises  such  apparatus, 
implements,  or  spirituous  liquors  are  found,  and  conduct  him  or  them 
to  said  judge  or  justice  of  the  peace,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  proceed 
against  such  criminal  or  criminals,  and  dispose  of  the  articles  seized 
according  to  law. 

SEC.  5.  All  the  fines  or  penalties  recovered  under  this  act  shall  go, 
one-half  to  the  informant  and  witnesses,  and  the  other  half  to  the  offi 
cers  engaged  in  arresting  and  trying  the  criminal  or  criminals,  and  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  all  officers  into  whose  hands  such  fines  and  penal 
ties  may  come,  to  pay  over  as  directed  in  this  section. 

SEC.  6.  This  act  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  prevent  any  prac 
ticing  physician  from  selling  such  liquors  for  medicines,  not  to  exceed 
half  a  pint  at  one  time. 

SEC.  7.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  secretary  to  publish  this  act 
in  the  first  newspaper  published  in  Oregon. 

I,  John  E.  Long,  secretary  of  Oregon,  do  hereby  certify  that  the 
foregoing  act  on  ardent  spirits  is  truly  and  correctly  revised  by  me. 

JOHN  E.  LOXG,  Secretary. 


442  HISTORY  OF  OREGOX. 

It  will  be  seen  in  the  final  vote,  that  Foisy  at  first  voted  against  this 
bill;  but  Hen d ricks  and  B.  Lee  changed  their  vote  and  Foisy  changed 
his;  thus  the  liquor  law  remained  as  it  was,  and  was  published  February 
5,  1846,  and  remained  in  force  till  Saturday,  December  19,  1846.  On 
December  4  of  that  year,  the  governor  called  the  attention  of  the 
Legislature  to  this  law,  in  the  following  language : — 

"  The  act  passed  at  the  last  session  of  the  Legislature,  entitled  l  An 
Act  to  prevent  the  introduction,  sale,  and  distillation  of  ardent  spirits  in 
Oregon,'  is  one  I  should  recommend  for  revision ;  there  are  several 
points  that  are  thought  to  be  defective.  The  organic  law  provides 
that  the  Legislature  shall  have  power  to  pass  laws  to  regulate  the  in 
troduction,  manufacture,  or  sale  of  ardent  spirits.  It  is  held  that  the 
power  to  prohibit  the  introduction,  manufacture,  or  sale  is  not  granted 
by  the  organic  law.  Another  objection  is  that  the  fines  collected  under 
the  act  shall  go,  one-half  to  the  informant  and  witnesses,  and  the  other 
half  to  the  officers  engaged  in  arresting  and  trying  :  in  fact,  making  the 
witnesses  and  judges  interested  in  the  case.  The  fourth  section  makes  it 
the  duty  of  any  officer,  or  any  private  citizen,  to  act  whenever  it  shall 
come  to  their  knowledge  that  any  kind  of  spirituous  liquors  are  being 
distilled  or  manufactured  in  Oregon.  It  would  be  much  better  if  it 
were  made  the  duty  of  the  sheriff  of  each  county  to  act,  whenever  he 
should  be  informed  that  any  liquor  was  being  made  or  sold  in  his  county, 
and  authorize  him  to  raise  a  sufficient  ^>osse  to  aid  and  assist  him  in  en 
forcing  the  law.  We  have,  as  a  community,  taken  a  high  stand  in  the 
cause  of  temperance ;  among  our  earliest  efforts  may  be  found  the 
abolishing  of  ardent  spirits  from  our  land,  and  to  this,  in  a  great  meas 
ure,  may  be  attributed  our  peace  and  prosperity.  No  new  country  can 
be  pointed  out  where  so  much  harmony  prevailed  in  its  first  settlement 
as  in  this :  laws,  we  had  none,  yet  all  things  went  on  quietly  and  pros 
perously.  I  have  no  doubt  if  ardent  spirits  are  kept  within  their  proper 
bounds,  we  shall  continue  prosperous. 

"  It  is  said  by  some  we  have  no  right  to  say  what  a  man  shall  make 
or  what  he  shall  not  make ;  yet,  we  find,  in  all  large  cities,  certain 
manufactories  are  forbidden  to  be  carried  on  within  the  limits  of  the 
city,  because  they  annoy  the  inhabitants,  and  hence  are  declared  to  be 
public  nuisances,  and  by  law  are  compelled  to  be  removed;  and,  if  the 
city  increase  and  extend  to  the  place  where  they  are  relocated,  they 
are  removed  again.  Intoxicating  drink  is  an  enormous  public  injury 
and  private  wrong ;  its  effects,  in  every  way,  shape,  and  form,  are  evil, 
and  therefore  should  be  restrained  within  proper  limits  by  law.  It  de 
prives  the  wife  and  children  of  the  inebriate  of  the  support  and  pro 
tection  they  have  a  right  to  expect  from  him ;  it  deprives  the  community 


GOVEKNOB   ABKRNETHY'3   MESSAGE.  44.3 

wealth,  for  it  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  a  nation's  wealth  is  made  up  of  individual  labor,  and  every 
day,  therefore,  lost  by  the  laborer,  caused  by  the  effects  of  alcoholic 
drink,  is  a  loss  to  the  community  at  large.  Persons  who  have  become 
habitually  addicted  to  ardent  spirits,  hearing  that  we  had  excluded  the 
poison  from  our  land,  and,  believing  they  never  could  be  free  if  they  re 
mained  near  its  influence,  have  left  their  homes  and  crossed  the  Rocky 
Mountains  to  escape  the  ruin  that  threatened  them.  Shall  they  be  dis 
appointed  ?  During  the  last  year,  persons  taking  advantage  of  the 
defect  in  our  law,  have  manufactured  and  sold  ardent  spirits.  We  have 
seen  the  effects  (although  the  manufacture  was  on  a  small  scale)  in  the 
midnight  carousals  among  the  Indians  in  our  neighborhood,  during  their 
fishing  season,  and  while  they  had  property  to  dispose  of;  and,  let  me 
ask,  what  would  be  the  consequences  if  the  use  of  it  should  be  general 
in  the  country  and  among  the  different  tribes  of  Indians  in  the  Terri 
tory  ?  History  may,  hereafter,  write  the  page  in  letters  of  blood  !  And 
what  are  the  consequences,  as  presented  to  us  in  the  history  of  older 
countries,  of  an  indiscriminate  use  of  ardent  spirits  ?  Almshouses,  hos 
pitals,  prisons,  and  the  gallows.  I  would,  therefore,  recommend  that 
but  one  person,  and  that  person  a  physician,  be  authorized  to  import 
or  manufacture  a  sufficient  quantity  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  commu 
nity  for  medicinal  purposes ;  to  dispose  of  no  liquor  except  when  he 
knows  it  to  be  necessary,  or  on  an  order  from  a  regular  physician, 
stating  that  the  person  applying  stands  in  need  of  it  for  medicinal  pur 
poses  ;  and  to  physicians  to  be  used  in  their  practice  ;  the  person  so  em 
powered  to  import,  manufacture,  and  sell,  to  keep  a  record  of  the  quan 
tity  manufactured  or  imported ;  also,  a  record  of  the  quantity  sold,  or 
disposed  of,  and  to  whom,  and  name  of  physician  on  whose  certificate 
given.  This  would  be  attended  with  but  little  trouble,  and  might  be 
required  to  be  given  under  oath.  Many  articles  require  alcohol  to  dis 
solve  them ;  this  could  be  done  by  taking  the  article  to  the  person  ap 
pointed  and  having  the  alcohol  put  into  the  ingredients  in  his  presence. 
Section  fifth  I  would  recommend  to  be  altered,  so  that  the  fines  should 
go  one-half  to  the  informer,  and  the  other  half  into  the  treasury. 
I  would  recommend  that  the  penalties  be  increased.  If  the  indis 
criminate  sale  of  liquor  be  admitted  an  evil,  no  good  citizen  can  wish 
to  be  engaged  in  it.  Why  should  the  majority  suffer  to  benefit  a  few 
individuals  ? 

"I  have  said  more  on  this  subject  than  I  should  have  done,  did  I  not 
fear  an  attempt  will  be  made  to  break  down  the  barriers  raised  by  the 
early  settlers  of  this  land.  Much  of  our  prosperity  and  happiness  as  a 
community  depends  upon  your  action  in  this  matter." 


4-4-4:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  governor  was  misinformed  or  mistaken 
in  the  statement  that  liquor  had  been  manufactured  in  the  settlement 
otherwise  than  by  drugs  and  a  composition  called  rot-gut,  which  there 
were  men  in  the  country  base  enough  to  produce.  Had  the  gov 
ernor  been  more  energetic  and  taken  the  matter  in  hand,  no  manufac 
turing  of  liquors  would  have  been  allowed.  He  seems  to  have  thrown 
himself  back  upon  the  faults  of  the  law  as  an  excuse  for  not  seeing  that 
it  was  executed  as  it  should  have  been,  and  as  it  was  executed  in  other 
places.  Some  of  this  drugged  liquor  was  brought  to  Astoria  by  one 
George  Geere,  of  Dr.  White  notoriety,  and  the  citizens  of  Clatsop  Plains 
being  notified  of  the  fact,  came  over  prepared  for  a  fight,  and  found 
Geere,  with  his  liquors,  his  pistols,  and  a  seven-shooter  rifle.  They  took 
him  and  his  pistols  and  rifle,  also  his  two  kegs,  and  several  bottles  of 
liquor.  The  liquor  they  turned  out  on  the  ground, — took  Geere  before 
Esquire  Tibbetts,  and  gave  him  a  jury  trial  before  six  men  of  his  own 
choice,  who  found  him  guilty.  He  was  fined  one  hundred  dollars  and 
costs  of  suit,  which  was  all  given,  by  unanimous  consent,  to  the  county. 
When  such  a  man  as  Governor  Abernethy  could  excuse  himself  from 
acting  and  enforcing  a  law,  because  he  thought  the  distribution  of  the 
fines  imposed  made  the  officers  and  witnesses  interested  persons,  it  is 
not  surprising  that  men  of  no  principle  should  engage  in  destroying 
their  fellow-men.  The  fact  is,  that  the  men  whom  the  people  had  hon 
ored  and  trusted  with  their  legal  and  executive  duties  were  destitute  of 
the  firmness  requisite  to  the  position  they  occupied,  with  some  few  hon 
orable  exceptions.  The  people  generally  were  in  advance  of  their 
leaders  in  sustaining  good  and  wholesome  laws,  hence  but  few  cases  of 
lawsuits  or  quarrels  occurred.  . 

We  will  now  give  what  we  conceive  to  be  the  cause  of  the  failure  of 
the  law. 

By  a  reference  to  the  organization  of  the  house  in  December,  1845, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  represented  by 
Messrs.  Dr.  W.  F.  Tolmie,  Chamberlain,  McDonald,  Newell,  and  Peers. 
The  liquor  interest  was  represented  by  Messrs.  Boon,  Hall,  Hembree, 
Looney,  Meek,  Summers,  Straight,  T.  Vault,  Williams,  and  the  Speaker. 
Six  of  the  last-named  representatives  should  have  been  fined  for  viola 
tions  of  the  law  on  a  small  scale,  and  all  of  the  first  on  a  large  scale,  as 
connected  more  or  less  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  selling 
and  giving  to  their  men  and  Indians. 

While  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  yielded  a  quasi  assent  to  the 
organization,  and  hud  their  representatives  in  the  Legislature,  they  were 
using  their  influence  to  curtail  the  privileges  of  American  citizens. 
They  were  ready  to  vote  against  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  liquors, 


THE   COUNTRY   CURSED.  445 

while  they  were  constantly  bringing  it  to  the  country  in  their  ships, 
and  distributing  it  to  suit  their  trade. 

The  composition  of  the  house  was  peculiarly  American  and  antagon 
istic  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Any  measure  that  gave  to  the 
company  any  advantage,  such  as  it  was  urged  the  prohibitory  law  did, 
could  not  st#nd.  Hence  the  friends  of  prohibition  had  to  yield  the 
point,  on  the  ground  of  self-defense  for  national  rights,  and  not  from  a 
disposition  to  consider  the  law  unjust  or  improper.  In  other  words, 
they  licensed  and  sustained  a  great  evil,  to  combat  a  privilege  of  equal 
evil,  claimed  and  used  by  a  foreign  monopoly  in  our  midst. 

When  we  take  into  account  the  facts  as  stated  by  the  governor  in  his 
message,  the  actual  condition  of  the  country,  the  temporary  nature  of 
our  government,  and  all  the  combinations  that  were  forming  at  the  time 
the  license  law  was  passed,  I  think  all  will  join  with  me  in  condemning 
the  course  of  the  men  who  cursed  the  country  with  such  a  law.  It  is 
asserted  that  the  organic  law  provided  that  the  Legislature  should 
regulate  this  traffic.  Very  true;  which  they  did  by  placing  it  in  the 
hands  of  the  practicing  physician,  where  it  belongs,  and  nowhere  else. 
But  these  wise  Solons  of  1846  came  to  the  conclusion  that  three,  twro, 
or  one  hundred  dollars  was  ample  pay  to  the  country  for  the  loss  of 
any  man  in  it.  That  for  three  hundred  dollars  the  whole  country 
might  be  rilled  with  poisonous  rot-gut,  and  for  two  hundred  the 
wholesale  business  might  go  on,  while  for  one  hundred  the  miserable 
victims  of  the  business  could  be  turned  loose  to  degrade  themselves  and 
blight  the  hopes  of  kindred  and  friends.  I  can  count  a  hundred  victims 
who  have  lost  one  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  property  for  every  dollar 
received  by  the  Territory,  besides  their  own  lives,  in  consequence  of 
this  traffic.  I  can  count  five  hundred  families  that  have  suffered  pov 
erty  and  want,  insult  and  abuse,  purely  chargeable  to  this  regulating 
law  of  these  men. 

We  read  in  histories  of  the  church,  that  the  pope  of  Rome  sold 
indulgences  to  commit  certain  sins  which  by  the  common  law  would 
be  considered  crimes,  such  as  adultery,  theft,  and  even  murder.  The 
price  of  the  indulgence  was  according  to  the  crime  to  be  committed. 
This  law  proceeds  upon  the  principle  of  the  amount  of  profits  in 
the  business,  while  its  nature  and  effect  upon  the  community  is  lost 
sight  of.  Or,  in  other  words,  the  government  sells  the  indulgence 
to  commit  the  crime  proposed  by  the  manufacturer  or  wholesale  and 
retail  dealer.  While  the  former  law  admitted  that  liquor  as  a  med 
icine  might  be  useful,  and  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  the  practicing 
physician,  the  license  law  puts  each  seller  under  a  one  thousand  dollar 
bond  to  keep  a  quiet  house.  They  were  ready  to  license  hells  all  over 


446  HISTORY  OF  OREGOX. 

the  land,  provided  the  keepers  would  bind  themselves  not  to  violate  the 
sanctity  of  the  Sabbath.  The  morality  and  political  economy  of  the 
business  is  forced  to  be  satisfied  with  the  amount  paid  as  per  law 
provided. 

This  act,  as  a  matter  of  course,  opened  all  the  liquor  shops  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  of  all  the  unprincipled  men  in  the  country. 
To  give  a  better  idea  of  this  liquor  question,  a  letter  of  James  Douglas, 
found  in  No.  10,  volume  1,  of  the  Oregon  /Spectator,  June  11,  1846,  is 
given.  Mr.  Parker,  in  his  stump  speech,  alluded  to  the  liquor  law,  and 
asserted  that  it  was  daily  violated  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Mr. 
Douglas  attempts  to  refute  the  charge  and  sustain  the  law.  The 
italics  in  the  following  letter  are  the  author's  : — 

"MR.  EDITOR, — In  Mr.  Parker's  address  to  the  electors  of  Clackamas 
County,  delivered  at  the  meeting  lately  held  in  Oregon  City,  as  re 
ported  in  the  Spectator  of  the  28th  of  May,  I  observe  that  he  is  pleased 
to  point  out  Mr.  Douglas,  a  judge  of  the  County  Court,  who,  he  under 
stood,  was  in  the  habit  of  selling  ardent  spirits.  This  may  have  suited 
Mr.  Parker's  purpose,  while  attempting  to  establish  a  position  which 
appears  to  be  a  favorite  with  him,  "  that  the  oath  of  office  binds  a  man 
to  do  just  as  he  pleases!"  As  it  can  not,  however,  be  supposed  that  I 
admire  the  mode  of  illustration  he  has  chosen,  and  as  I  also  happen  to 
entertain  a  very  different  opinion  touching  the  force  and  propriety  of 
that  oath,  I  hope  it  will  not  be  considered  a  breach  of  courtesy  on  my 
part,  to  offer,  through  the  medium  of  your  respectable  paper,  a  direct 
and  unqualified  denial  of  this  charge  of  rum-setting,  in  the  only  sense 
it  is  plainly  meant  to  be  received,  and  can  be  considered  at  all  appli 
cable  to  the  subject  in  question.  As  a  particular  favor,  I  ask  Mr. 
Parker  to  bring  forward  a  single  proof  in  support  of  the  assertion  he 
has  so  wantonly  advanced.  I  refer  him  to  all  his  fellow-citizens.  I  ask 
him  to  search  the  country  from  one  extremity  to  another,  and  to  put  the 
question  to  each  individual  member  of  the  community  with  the  absolute 
certainty  that  not  one  person  will  be  found  who  ever  purchased  ardent 
spirits  from  Mr.  Douglas.  A  stranger  in  the  country,  evidently  unac 
quainted  with  its  early  history,  Mr.  Parker  may  not  have  been  informed 
that  the  members  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  have  for  many  years 
past  uniformly  discouraged  intemperance"  (by  a  regular  daily  allowance 
of  liquor  to  their  men,  as  we  shall  see  Mr.  Douglas  says)  "by  every 
means  in  their  power,  and  have  also  made  great  and  repeated  pecuniary 
sacrifices  to  prevent  the  sale  of  ardent  spirits  in  the  country :  an  article, 
moreover,  which  forms  no  part  of  their  trade,  either  with  the  white 
man  or  the  Indian."  (See  Mr.  Dunn's  book,  in  which  it  is  asserted  the 


MR.    DOUGLAS  DEALS   IX  LIQUOR.  447 

company  sells  to  Indians,  and  Fitzgerald,  page  162).  "Mr.  Parker 
does  not  indeed  pretend  to  speak  from  his  own  personal  experience  of 
the  fact,  but  on  the  authority  of  others ;  and  should  any  doubt  still 
linger  in  his  mind  with  respect  to  the  correctness  of  what  I  have  just 
said,  he  may  perhaps  have  no  objection  to  seek  other  means  of -arriving 
at  the  truth ;  suppose,  for  instance,  he  was  to  try  the  experiment  of 
negotiating  a  purchase,  I  venture  to  predict  he  would  soon  be  con 
vinced  that  Mr.  Douglas  is  not  in  the  habit  of  selling  ardent  spirits. 

"  But  let  us  inquire  a  little  further  into  this  matter.  What  could 
have  induced  a  person  of  character  to  hazard  an  observation  in  public, 
which,  he  must  know,  would,  if  false,  be  as  openly  exposed.  Mr.  Parker 
must  have  had  some  grounds  for  his  assertion ;  he  may  possibly  have 
heard,  or  he  may  have  supposed  that  her  Majesty's  ship  Modeste  was 
daily  receiving  supplies  at  Fort  Vancouver.  If,  with  reference  to  these 
supplies,  he  had  told  his  hearers  that  her  Majesty's  ship  Modeste,  now 
stationed  at  Fort  Vancouver,  had,  with  other  supplies  for  ship  use  from 
the  stores  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  received  several  casks  of 
rum;  or  if,  referring  to  the  company's  own  ships,  he  had  stated 
that  a  small  allowance  of  spirits  is  daily  served  out  to  the  crews 
of  the  company's  vessels  ;  and  that  other  classes  of  the  company's  ser 
vants,  according  to  long-accustomed  usage,  receive,  on  certain  rare 
occasions,  a  similar  indulgence,  he  would  have  told  the  plain  and  simple 
truth,  and  his  statement  would  not  this  day  have  been  called  in  ques 
tion  by  me. 

"  These  acts,  which  I  fully  admit,  and  would  on  no  account  attempt 
to  conceal,  can  not  by  the  fair  rules  of  construction  be  considered  as 
infringing  upon  any  law  recognized  by  the  compact  which  we  have 
agreed  to  support,  in  common  with  the  other  inhabitants  of  Oregon. 
[The  same  argument  is  used  to  justify  Mr.  Ogden  in  furnishing  powder 
and  arms  to  the  Indians  at  the  commencement  of  the  Cayuse  war.] 

"The  framers  of  these  laws,  with  a  degree  of  wisdom  and  foresight 
which  does  them  honor,  never  entertained  the  idea  that  a  person,  in 
becoming  a  member  of  the  compact,  thereby  relinquished  his  distinctive 
national  character. 

"  On  the  contrary,  British  subjects  and  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
casting  aside  every  shadow  of  illiberal  prejudice,  extended  to  each 
other  the  right  hand  of  good-fellowship,  for  the  purpose  of  mutual 
protection,  to  secure  the  peace  and  promote  the  prosperity  of  the  coun 
try,  until  protected  by  their  respective  governments.  The  compact  was 
formed  and  perfected  upon  that  principle,  and  can  rest  with  security 
upon  no  other  foundation. 

"  We  are  pledged,  and  do  faithfully  intend  to  support   the  organic 


448  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

laws.  They  do  not  bind  us  to  violate  pre-existing  engagements  with 
our  servants,  nor  to  withhold  from  the  officers  of  our  government  sup 
plies  of  whatsoever  kind  the  company's  stores  can  provide.  In  the 
high  character  of  the  latter  we  enjoy  the  fullest  security  against  abuse 
to  the  detriment  of  the  country.  With  all  other  parties  we  have  most 
rigidly,  and  shall  continue  to  enforce  the  prohibitory  statutes  of  Oregon. 
My  wish  in  addressing  you,  Mr.  Editor,  is  to  set  Mr.  Parker  right  in 
respect  to  this  matter  of  rum-selling,  and  the  people  may  rest  assured 
that  if  my  wishes  could  influence  the  community,  there  would  never 
be  a  drunkard  in  Oregon. 

"  JAMES  DOUGLAS." 

Mr.  Parker's  answer,  which,  like  the  letter  of  Mr.  Douglas,  is  ad 
dressed  to  the  /Spectator,  says  : — 

"  MR.  EDITOR, — Our  friend  Mr.  Douglas,  in  the  Spectator  of  the  llth 
instant,  denies,  in  the  most  unqualified  terms,  the  charge  of  rum-selling 
at  Vancouver,  and  challenges  me  to  the  proof  of  the  assertion,  by  call 
ing  individually  on  all  of  our  fellow-citizens  for  testimony ;  and  no 
other  alternative  is  left  me  but  to  proceed  in  accordance  with  his  re 
quest ;  he  will,  I  am  sure,  pardon  me  if  I  seek  this  among  the  highest 
authorities,  and  I  will  produce  one  at  least  whose  veracity  will  not,  I 
am  sure,  be  called  in  question  by  our  friend.  • 

"  When  I,  in  my  speech,  adverted  to  the  fact  that  rum  was  sold  at 
Vancouver,  contrary  to  law,  the  statement  was  based  on  the  thousand- 
tongued  rumor,  and  I  so  qualified  my  remarks.  But  in  Mr.  Douglas's 
confession,  found  in  the  paper  alluded  to,  the  matter  of  doubt  is  settled, 
and  we  are  now  furnished  with  the  authority  of  no  less  a  personage* 
than  Mr.  Douglas  himself.  Hear  his  testimony.  'If,'  says  he,  'with 
reference  to  these  supplies,  he  had  told  his  hearers  that  her  Majesty's 
ship  Modeste,  now  stationed  at  Fort  Vancouver,  had,  with  other  sup 
plies  for  ship  use  from  the  stores  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
received  several  casks  of  rum ;  or  if,  referring  to  the  company's  own 
ships,  he  had  stated  that  a  small  allowance  of  spirits  is  daily  served 
out  to  the  crews  of  the  company's  vessels  ;  and  that  other  classes  of  the 
company's  servants,  according  to  long-accustomed  usage,  receive,  on 
certain  rare  occasions,  a  similar  indulgence,  he  would  have  told  the 

C3 

plain  and  simple  truth,'  etc. 

"  These  facts,  Mr.  Douglas,  who  has  charge  of  the  trading-post  at 
Vancouver,  fully  admits,  and  upon  his  testimony  in  the  matter  I  place 
the  most  implicit  confidence.  It  was  not  my  intention  to  charge  our 
friend  with  having  kept  a  tippling-shop  at  Vancouver,  and  I  wish  to 
correct  such,  if  any  there  are,  who  may  have  come  to  such  a  conclusion; 


MR.    PARKER'S   REPLY.  44.9 

but  I  confess,  I  had  not  supposed  that  the  law  in  relation  to  ardent 
spirits  (and  which  may  be  found  in  the  first  number  of  the  /Spectator) 
had  been  so  wantonly  disregarded.  We  know,  from  personal  observa 
tion,  that  rum  in  considerable  quantities  had  found  its  way  among  our 
citizens  from  some  quarter,  and  the  disclosure  here  made  furnishes  a 
key  to  the  mystery,  and  we  are  now  broadly  told  that  casks  of 
this  article  have  been  furnished  to  her  Majesty's  officers  stationed  in 
Oregon,  but  that  in  their  high  character  we  enjoy  the  fullest  security 
against  its  abuse,  etc, 

"  And  now,  my  dear  sir,  having  heard  much  of  the  hollow  and  cere 
monious  professions  and  hypocritical  grimaces  of  courts,  and  men  in 
high  places,  and  disgusted  with  every  thing  that  savors  of  aristocrat- 
ical  or  monarchical  parade,  and  smitten  with  the  love  of  republican 
simplicity  and  honesty,  I  can  not  admit  that  rank  or  men  in  high 
places  are  guaranteed  against  our  laws,  nor  are  they  so  framed  as  to 
justify  such  a  conclusion.  Raised  as  I  was  under  these  simple  institu 
tions,  which  tend  to  bring  all  on  an  equality,  I  can  not  perceive  those 
high  guaranties  or  pledges  which  are  said  to  emanate  from  rank  or 
station  in  high  places  in  society.  With  us,  men  give  pledges  of  honor 
and  character,  alone  from  their  moral  conduct ;  and  the  bacchanalian 
carousals  (one  was  a  most  disgraceful  drunken  row  kept  up  for  several 
days  by  the  officers  of  the  Modeste,  in  honor  of  the  Queen's  birthday) 
which  came  off  in  the  Tualatin  Plains  on  Vancouver  rum,  last  winter 
and  spring,  at  the  expense  of  the  good  morals  of  our  farming  com 
munity,  gave  me  abundant  and  additional  evidence  to  admire  our 
simple  and  republican  usages,  while  it  serves  as  a  moral  worthy  the  con 
sideration  of  a  prince,  or  the  strongest  appendage  of  nobility.  Our 
laws  make  no  distinction  in  favor  of  the  officers  on  board  of  her  Ma 
jesty's  ship  Modeste,  nor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  servants.  If 
their  ships  visit  our  ports,  our  laws  will  protect  them,  and,  according  to 
the  usages  of  all  nations,  we  expect  them  to  submit  to  their  provisions  ; 
but  should  these  officers,  through  the  plenitude  of  their  power,  deter 
mine  to  disregard  our  .laws,  it  certainly  could  find  no  justification  with 
one  filling  the  high  judicial  station  which  Mr.  Douglas  occupies.  Ho 
has  sanctioned  our  law-making  authority  by  accepting  one  of  the  high 
est  judicial  offices  under  our  organization.  According  to  his  own 
confession,  he  has  disregarded  the  law,  not  only  only  by  giving  in 
small  quantities,  but  by  selling  ardent  spirits  by  the  cask ;  nor  can  he 
find  justification  by  dealing  it  out  under  pre-existing  contracts  to  the 
servants  of  the  company.  To  admit  that  principle,  dealers  in  this 
article  would  only  be  required,  when  the  prohibitory  law  was  about 
being  passed,  to  contract  for  the  supply  of  all  their  old  customers,  and 
29 


450  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

thus  defeat  the  object  and  intention  of  the  law  by  a  pre-existing  con 
tract,  And  as  for  the  argument  of  long-existing  usages,  that  pays  the 
poorest  tribute  of  all.  Why,  the  very  toper  may  plead  his  long  indul 
gence  in  the  use  of  this  article,  with  as  much  propriety.  I  should  not 
have  noticed  the  subject  again,  but  for  my  anxious  desire  that  the 
matter  should  be  fairly  placed  before  the  public. 

"  SAMUEL  PAEKER." 

These  two  laws,  and  the  two  communications  we  have  given,  place 
the  temperance  question  fully  before  the  reader.  The  communication 
of  Mr.  Douglas  shows  the  position  and  feelings  of  the  English  and  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  relation  to  our  laws,  as  also  the  liberty  they 
claimed  to  violate  them  whenever  it  suited  their  interest  or  their 
convenience.  Mr.  Douglas  says,  "  with  all  other  parties  loe  have  most 
rigidly,  and  shall  continue  to  enforce  the  prohibitory  statutes  of 
Oregon"  It  also  shows  another  fact.  "  TheModeste,  now  stationed  at 
Fort  Vancouver"  is  our  (the  company's)  protection,  and  you  must 
not  attempt  to  enforce  a  law  upon  English  subjects,  or  English  ships 
that  enter  the  rivers  or  ports  of  the  country.  To  say  that  many  of  us 
did  not  feel  keenly  this  taunt,  and  almost  despair  of  securing  this  vast 
country  from  the  rapacious  mouth  of  the  crouching  lion,  whose 
drunken,  beastly  representatives  were  distributing  their  rum  to  every 
family  that  would  receive  them,  would  not  be  true. 

When  their  representatives  entered  our  legislative  councils,  the  most 
stupid  of  its  members  understood  their  object.  They  wished  to  make 
laws  for  Americans.  Their  own  people  needed  no  laws,  and  no  other 
government  than  such  as  was  provided  for  them  by  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  The  reader  is  already  informed  how  those  laws  were 
enforced. 

Dr.  Tolmie,  who  at  the  present  time  (1870)  stands  at  the  head  of 
the  company  in  Vancouver  Island  and  British  Columbia,  presented  the 
following  resolution  to  the  house  on  the  sixth  day  of  the  session,  show 
ing  the  true  position  of  the  English  element  :— 

"  Resolved,  That  the  judiciary  committee  be  discharged  from  further 
duty,  as  the  present  Legislature  deems  it  inexpedient  to  organize  the 
judiciary  at  the  present  time,  in  any  manner  different  from  the  present 
organization." 

By  a  reference  to  the  journal  of  the  house,  we  find  Dr.  Tolmie  to 
be  a  member  of  the  judiciary  committee.  Four  days  after,  we  find 
this  same  gentleman  presenting  another  resolution  : — 

"  That  the  Legislature  deems  it  inexpedient,  at  the  present  time,  to 
legalize  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  ardent  spirits." 


VETO   OF  THE  LICENSE  LAW.  451 

Yeas — Chamberlain,  McDonald,  and  Tolmie — 3.  Nays — Boon, 
HALL,  Hembrce,  LOUNSDALE,  LOONEY,  Meek,  Newell,  Peers,  Summers, 
Straight,  T.  Vault,  Williams  and  the  Speaker — 13.  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  men  in  italics  ;  doubtful,  in  SMALL  CAPITALS. 

On  the  motion  of  Newell  to  lay  the  bill  to  regulate  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  ardent  spirits  on  the  table,  it  stood  :  Yeas — Chamberlain, 
Hall,  Lounsdale,  Looney,  McDonald,  Newell,  and  Tolmie — 7.  Nays — 
Boon,  Hembree,  Meek,  Summers,  Straight,  T.  Vault,  Williams,  and  the 
Speaker — 8.  Peers  absent. 

On  the  final  vote  to  carry  this  bill  over  the  veto  of  the  governor,  we 
find  Hall,  Lounsdale,  and  Looney  changing  their  votes  in  favor  of  pas 
sing  the  bill  over  the  veto,  which  is  as  follows  : — 

OREGON  CITY,  Dec.  17,  1846. 

GENTLEMEN, — I  return  to  your  honorable  body  the  act  entitled  "  An 
Act  to  regulate  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  wine  arid  distilled  spiritu 
ous  liquors,"  with  my  objections  to  the  same. 

Previous  to  our  organization  as  a  provisional  government,  public  sen 
timent  kept  liquor  from  being  manufactured  or  sold  in  this  Territory. 
Heretofore,  every  act  of  the  Legislature  has  been,  as  far  as  ardent  spirits 
were  concerned,  prohibitory  in  character.  The  act  lying  before  me  is 
the  first  act  that  has  in  any  manner  attempted  to  legalize  the  manufac 
ture  and  sale  of  ardent  spirits.  At  the  session  of  the  Legislature  in 
June,  1844,  an  act  was  passed  entitled  "  An  Act  to  prevent  the  introduc 
tion,  sale,  and  distillation  of  ardent  spirits  in  Oregon,"  and,  as  far  as 
my  knowledge  extends,  the  passage  of  that  act  gave  satisfaction  to  the 
great  majority  of  the  people  throughout  the  Territory.  At  the  session 
of  December,  1845,  several  amendments  were  proposed  to  the  old  law, 
and  passed.  The  new  features  given  to  the  bill  by  those  amendments 
did  not  accord  with  the  views  of  the  people;  the  insertion  of  the  words 
"give"  and  "gift,"  in  the  first  and  second  sections  of  the  bill,  they 
thought  was  taking  away  their  rights,  as  it  was  considered  that  a  man 
had  a  right  to  give  away  his  property  if  he  chose.  There  were  several 
other  objections  to  the  bill,  which  I  set  forth  to  your  honorable  body 
in  my  message.  I  would  therefore  recommend  that  the  amendments 
passed  at  the  December  session  of  1845  be  repealed;  and  that  the  law 
passed  on  the  24th  of  June,  1 844,  with  such  alterations  as  will  make  it 
agree  with  the  organic  law,  if  it  does  not  agree  with  it,  be  again  made 
the  law  of  the  land.  It  is  said  by  many  that  the  Legislature  has  no 
right  to  prohibit  the  introduction  or  sale  of  liquor,  and  this  is  probably 
the  strongest  argument  used  in  defense  of  your  bill.  But  do  you  not 
as  effectually  prohibit  every  person  who  has  not  the  sum  of  one,  two, 


4:52  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

or  three  hundred  dollars  to  pay  for  his  license,  as  does  the  law  now  on 
the  statute-book  ?  Are  not  your  proposed  fines  and  penalties  as  great 
or  greater  than  those  of  the  old  law  ?  "Where,  then,  is  the  benefit  to 
the  people  ?  There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind,  but  that  the  law  will  be 
evaded  as  easily,  and  as  often,  under  the  new  law,  as  it  was  under  the 
old,  and,  in  addition  to  this,  there  will  be  the  legal  manufacturers,  im 
porters,  and  sellers,  who  will  be  able,  under  the  sanction  of  law,  to 
scatter  all  the  evils  attendant  upon  the  use  of  alcoholic  drinks.  We 
are  in  an  Indian  country ;  men  will  be  found  who  will  supply  them 
with  liquor  as  long  as  they  have  beaver,  blankets,  and  horses  to  pay 
for  it.  If  a  quantity  should  be  introduced  among  the  Wallawallas,  and 
other  tribes  in  the  upper  country,  who  can  foretell  the  consequences; 
there  we  have  families  exposed  out,  off  from  the  protection  of  the  settle 
ments,  and  perhaps,  at  the  first  drunken  frolic  of  the  Indians  in  that 
region,  they  may  be  cut  off  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  But  AVC  need 
not  go  so  far;  we  are  exposed  in  every  part  of  our  frontier,  and  when 
difficulties  once  commence,  we  can  not  tell  where  they  will  cease. 

It  has  been  proved  before  the  House  of  Commons  that  one-half  of  the 
insanity,  two-thirds  of  the  pauperism,  and  three-fourths  of  the  crimes  of 
Great  Britain  may  be  directly  traced  to  the  use  of  alcoholic  drink. 
The  testimony  of  our  most  eminent  judges  in  the  United  States  shows 
that  the  same  proportion  of  crime  is  attributable  to  ardent  spirits  in 
that  country.  Statistics  might  be  produced,  showing  the  enormous  evil 
and  expense  of  an  indiscriminate  use  of  liquor. 

As  to  revenue,  the  small  amount  received  for  licenses,  instead  of  bein<r 

'  & 

a  revenue,  would  be  swallowed  up  in  the  expenses  attending  trials  for 
crimes,  etc.,  caused  by  the  crime  of  these  licenses. 

But,  leaving  all  other  countries  out  of  view,  let  us  consider  our  own 
state.  Surrounded  by  Indians,  no  military  force  to  aid  the  executive 
and  other  officers  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  not  a  solitary  prison 
in  the  land,  in  which  to  confine  offenders  against  the  laws,  and  conse 
quently  no  way  of  enforcing  the  penalties  of  the  law,  I  think  these 
things  should  call  for  calm  and  serious  reflection,  before  passing  your 
final  vote  on  this  bill.  My  opinion  is,  the  people  are  opposed  to  legal 
izing  the  introduction  and  sale  of  liquor  in  this  land.  I  may  be  mis 
taken,  and  therefore  should  be  in  favor  of  the  old  law,  or  something 
similar  should  be  adopted,  of  referring  the  whole  matter  to  the  polls  at 
the  next  general  election.  If  the  people  say  "  No  liquor,"  continue  to 
prohibit ;  if  they  say,  through  the  ballot-box,  "  We  wish  liquor,"  then 
let  it  come  free,  the  same  as  dry-goods,  or  any  other  article  imported 
or  manufactured  ;  but,  until  the  people  say  they  want  it,  I  hope  you 
will  use  your  influence  to  keep  it  out  of  the  Territory. 


VOTE   ON  THE  LIQUOR  LAW.  453 

It  is  with  regret  that  I  return  any  bill  unsigned,  but  I  feel  that  we 
both  have  duties  to  perform,  and  when  we  think  duty  points  out  the 
way,  I  trust  we  may  always  be  found  willing  to  follow  it. 

GEO.  ABERNETHY. 

To  the  Hon.  the  Legislature  of  Oregon  Territory. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Hall,  the  communication  was  laid  on  the  table. 

AFTERNOON  SESSION. — At  two  o'clock  the  house  met.  A  call  of  the 
house  was  made,  and  the  sergeant-at-arms  dispatched  for  the  absent 
members,  who,  after  a  short  absence,  returned,  and  reported  that  the 
absentees  had  been  notified,  and  were  now  present.  Thereupon,  the 
further  call  of  the  house  was  dispensed  with. 

The  house  then  reconsidered  the  bill  to  regulate  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  ardent  spirits,  and,  after  some  deliberation,  the  question 
being  put  upon  the  passage  of  the  bill,  it  was  decided  affirmatively,  by 
the  following  vote  :; — 

Yeas — Messrs.  Boon,  Hall,  Hembree,  Lounsdale,  Looney,  Meek, 
Summers,  Straight,  T.  Vault,  Williams,  and  the  Speaker — 11. 

Nays — Messrs.  Chamberlain,  McDonald,  Xewell,  Peers,  and  Dr.  "W. 
F.  Tolmie— 5. 

/  At  St.  Josephs,  Elizabethtown,  Iowa  Point,  Council  Bluffs,  and  the 
[  Nishnabatona,  were  271  wagons  for  Oregon  and  California.  Allowing 
five  to  the  wagon  gives  us  about  1,355  souls  that  crossed  the  Missouri 
at  these  points.  The  quantity  of  loose  stock  was  estimated  at  5,000 
head.  From  Independence,  Missouri,  for  Oregon,  141  men,  71  women, 
109  children,  and  128  wagons.  From  Independence,  for  California,  98 
men,  40  women,  57  children,  320  oxen,  and  46  wagons.  Total,  1,841 
souls,  as  stated  in  Mr.  Saxton's  pamphlet,  1846.  The  larger  portion  of 
this  immigration  found  their  way  into  Oregon,  notwithstanding  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  Mr.  Hastings  did  all  they  could  to  turn 
them  to  California.  A  statement  by  Mr.  S.  K.  Barlow  shows  that  141 
wagons,  1,559  head  of  horses,  mules,  and  horned  cattle,  and  some  15 
head  of  sheep  passed  on  his  road ;  seven  more  teams  passed  after  this 
report  was  made.  Besides  the  number  that  came  over  the  Mount  Hood 
or  Barlow  road,  there  were  some  persons,  with  wagons,  who  attempted 
to  come  in  on  the  Applegate  route,  and  a  number  came  do\vn  the 
Columbia  River. 

This  year,  on  the  2 1st  of  February,  the  brig  Henry,  Captain  Kilborn, 
started  from  Newburyport  for  Oregon,  with  eight  passengers,  including 
women  and  children ;  also  the  Angela,  Captain  Hastings,  from  Boston, 
made  the  attempt,  but  failed.  The  brig  Henry  arrived  late  in  is46. 


454  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

On  Thursday,  February  5,  1846,  the  first  newspaper  published  on  the 
Pacific  coast  was  issued  from  the  press  of  the  Oregon  Printing  Associa 
tion,  at  Oregon  City.  The  originators  of  the  Printing-Press  Associa 
tion  were  the  same  that  started  the  Multnomah  Circulating  Library, 
the  Wolf  Association,  and  the  provisional  government,  in  1842-3. 

Constitution  of  the    Oregon  Printing  Association. 

PREAMBLE. — In  order  to  promote  science,  temperance,  morality,  and 
general  intelligence, — to  establish  a  printing-press  to  publish  a  monthly, 
semi-monthly,  or  weekly  paper  in  Oregon, — the  undersigned  do  hereby 
associate  ourselves  into  a  body,  to  be  governed  by  such  rules  and  regu 
lations  as  shall  from  time  to  time  be  adopted  by  a  majority  of  the  stock 
holders  of  this  compact,  in  a  regularly  called  and  properly  notified 

meeting. 

Articles  of  Compact. 

ARTICLE  1.  This  association  shall  be  known  by  the  name  of  the 
41  Oregon  Printing  Association,"  and  shall  hold  an  annual  meeting  at 
Oregon  City,  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  December  of  each  year. 

ART.  2.  Its  officers  shall  be  a  president,  vice-president,  secretary, 
treasurer,  and  a  Board  of  three  directors,  who  shall  be  elected  annually 
by  ballot,  and  shall  hold  their  offices  until  their  successors  are  elected. 

ART.  3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  president  to  preside  at  all  the 
meetings  of  the  association,  to  sign  all  certificates  of  stock,  and  drafts 
upon  the  treasurer  for  the  payment  of  funds,  and  to  preside  at  the 
meetings  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

ART.  4.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  vice-president  to  perform  the 
duties  of  the  president  in  case  of  his  absence,  by  death,  or  by  removal 
from  office. 

ART.  5.  *  *  *  The  secretary  to  attend,  and  keep  a  record  of  all 
the  meetings  of  the  association,  and  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  and  to 
publish  the  proceedings  of  the  annual  and  special  meetings  of  the  asso 
ciation,  and  such  portions  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
as  the  Board  shall  direct  from  time  to  time  ;  to  give  one  month's  notice 
of  all  special  meetings  of  the  association. 

ART.  6.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  treasurer  to  take  charge  of  the 
funds  of  the  association,  and  keep  an  account  of  all  moneys  received  and 
disbursed,  and  pay  out  the  same  in  accordance  with  drafts  drawn  on 
him  by  the  president,  and  signed  as  per  third  article  of  this  compact ;  to 
give  such  security  to  the  president  as  shall  be  deemed  sufficient  by  the 
Board  of  Directors  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his  trust;  to  report 
the  state  of  the  treasury  to  the  Board  of  Directors  quarterly,  and  to  pay 
over  to  his  successor  in  office  all  funds  of  the  association. 


.      CONSTITUTION  OF  FEINTING  ASSOCIATION.  455 

ART.  7.  *  *  *  The  officers  and  Board  of  Directors  to  manage  and 
superintend,  or  procure  a  suitable  person  to  do  so,  the  entire  printing 
and  publishing  association  ;  to  employ  all  persons  required  in  the  print 
ing  or  editorial  departments  of  the  press ;  to  publish  a  full  statement  of 
their  proceedings  semi -annually;  to  draft  and  adopt  such  by-laws  as 
may  be  deemed  proper  for  their  government,  provided  no  by-law 
contravenes  the  spirit  of  these  articles  of  compact ;  to  declare  a  divi 
dend  of  any  profits  arising  from  the  printing  establishment  as  often  as 
they  shall  deem  it  expedient ;  to  fill  any  vacancy  that  may  occur  in 
their  number ;  three  of  whom  shall  constitute  a  quorum,  and  be  com 
petent  to  transact  business. 

ART.  8.  The  press  owned  by  or  in  connection  with  this  association 
shall  never  be  used  by  any  party  for  the  purpose  of  propagating  sect 
arian  principles  or  doctrines,  nor  for  the  discussion  of  exclusive  party 
polities. 

ART.  9.  The  stock  of  this  association  shall  consist  'of  shares,  of  ten 
dollars  each,  payable  in  cash  or  its  equivalent. 

ART.  10.  For  every  ten  dollars  paid  to  the  treasurer  of  the  associa 
tion,  the  payer  thereof  shall  receive  a  certificate  for  the  same,  signed  by 
the  president  and  countersigned  by  the  secretary ;  and  for  every  such 
certificate,  the  holder  thereof,  or  his  agent,  on  presenting  to  the  Board 
of  Directors  satisfactory  evidence  that  he  is  such,  shall  be  entitled  to 
one  vote  in  all  the  annual  and  special  meetings  of  this  association  ;  shall 
receive  pro  rata  of  all  moneys  that  may  accrue  from  the  profits  of  the 
printing  establishment,  and  be  allowed  to  transfer  his  stock  to  any  one, 
by  certifying  and  indorsing  his  name  upon  the  back  ofJhis  certificate. 

ART.  11.  These  articles,  except  the  86A,  may  be  altered  or  amended  at 
any  annual  or  special  meeting  of  the  association,  provided  that  the  pro 
posed  amendment  shall  have  been  published  in  at  least  two  numbers  of 
the  paper  published  by  order  of  the  association. 
Officers  of  the  Association^ 

W.  G.  T.  VAULT,  President. 
J*  J.  W.  NESMITH,  Vice-President. 

JOHN  P.  BROOKS,  Secretary. 

GEORGE  ABERNETHY,  Treasurer. 

JOHN  H.  COUCH,  j 

JOHN  E.  LONG,     y  Directors. 

R.  NEWELL, 

The  first  editor  of  this  paper  was  W.  G.  T.  Vault.  A  man  more  unfit 
for  the  position  could  scarcely  have  been  found  in  the  country.  He 
professed  to  have  been  an  editor  of  a  paper  in  Arkansas,  and  blew 


456  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

and  swelled  like  the  toad  in  the  fable,  and  whined  like  a  puppy 
when  he  gave  his  valedictory,  in  the  fifth  number  of  the  Spectator,  lie 
says  :  "We  have  among  us  a  class  of  mongrels,  neither  American  nor 
anti-American,  a  kind  of  foreign,  hypocritical  go-betweens, — as  we  would 
say  in  the  States,  fence  men, — whose  public  declarations  are,  4  All  fur  the 
good  of  the  public,  and  not  a  cent  for  self.'  The  political  sentiments  of  the 
conductors  were  at  variance  with  his.'*  Mr.  T.  Vault  was  led  to  believe 
that  Mr.  Newell  was  his  only  friend,  from  the  fact  that  he  was  absent 
from  the  meeting  of  the  Board  when  his  successor  was  appointed  ;  and 
complains  of  Dr.  Long  and  J.  W.  Nesmith.  Newell  and  Long  acted 
together.  H.  A.  G.  Lee,  who  succeeded  T.  Vault  as  editor,  was  far 
better  qualified  for  the  position,  tho;igh  he  did  not  suit  this  same 
Board  of  Directors,  as  Newell  was  the  maneuvering  spirit.  Lee  was 
too  strongly  American  in  his  sentiments,  and  too  intelligent  to  be  a 
dupe  of  the  influence  of  which  T.  Vault  complained. 

Mr.  Douglas  declares  the  position  of  the  English  element  in  the  tenth 
number  of  the  Spectator.  Mr.  S.  Parker  answers  him  in  the  eleventh 
number;  and  Mr.  Lee,  in  the  fourteenth  number,  tenders  his  thanks  to 
the  Board  for  relieving  him.  The  fifteenth,  sixteenth,  and  seventeenth 
numbers,  each  "  run  itself,"  as  the  expression  is. 

On  the  eighteenth  number,  G.  L.  Curry,  Esq.,  took  charge,  to  the 
twenty-sixth  number,  which  completed  the  first  volume  of  the  paper.  He 
continued  his  editorial  position  till  the  twenty-fourth  number  of  the 
second  volume,  when  he  brought  his  duties  to  a  close  by  publishing  a 
set  of  resolutions  calculated  to  injure  J.  Q.  Thornton,  who  had  gone  on 
to  Washington  to  have  a  history  of  the  country  published,  and,  as  was 
supposed,  to  secure  the  best  federal  appointments  for  himself  and  his 
friends.  One-half  of  the  legislators  believing  that  unfair  and  improper 
means  had  been  used  by  Mr.  Thornton  and  his  friends,  the  other  half 
not  caring  to  vote  against  Mr.  Thornton's  proceedings,  being,  perhaps, 
his  real  friends,  the  resolutions  were  lost  by  a  tie  vote.  Mr.  Curry, 
as  editor  of  the  Spectator,  took  sides  against  Mr.  Thornton,  and  in  favor 
of  the  objectionable  resolutions,  and  published  them  under  an  editorial 
article,  notwithstanding  he  had  been  requested,  as  he  admits,  not  to 
publish  them. 

Judge  A.  E.  Wait  succeeded  Mr.  Curry  in  the  editorial  department 
of  the  paper,  and,  by  a  foolish,  vacillating  course,  continued  to  hold  his 
position  so  as  to  please  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  Roman 
Catholic  and  Methodist  influences  in  the  country.  The  paper,  by  this 
means,  became  of  little  value  to  its  patrons  and  the  country,  and  soon 
getting  involved  in  its  financial  affairs,  it  was  sold  and  lost  financially 
to  the  original  proprietors. 


CHAPTER    LIV. 

The  Whitman  massacre. — Narratives  of,  by  J.  B.  A.  Brouillet  and  J.  Eoss  Browne. — 
Extract  from  the  New  York  Evang-list. — Statements  of  Father  Brouillet  criticised. 
— Testimony  of  John  Kimzey. — Dr.  Whitman  at  Umatilla. — Returns  home. 

WE  have  before  us  two  works  purporting  to  give  a  true  and 
authentic  account  of  the  Whitman  massacre, — the  one  prepared  by  a 
Jesuit  priest,  J.  B.  A.  Brouillet ;  the  other  by  one  J.  Ross  Browne, 
special  agent  of  the  United  States  revenue  department.  As  this  part 
of  our  history  was  written  before  that  of  J.  Ross  Browne  (purporting 
to  be  an  official  report  to  the  35th  Congress,  1st  session,  House  of 
Representatives,  Executive  Document  No.  38)  came  into  our  hands,  it 
is  proper  that  we  should  give  this  report  a  passing  notice. 

Mr.  Browne,  upon  the  second  page  of  his  report,  says :  "  In  view  of 
the  fact,  however,  that  objections  might  be  made  to  any  testimony 
coming  from  the  citizens  of  the  Territory,  and  believing  also  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  a  public  agent  to  present,  as  far  as  practicable,  unprejudiced 
statements,  I  did  not  permit  myself  to  be  governed  by  any  representa 
tions  unsupported  by  reliable  historical  data." 

One  would  naturally  conclude,  from  such  a  statement,  that  a  candid, 
unprejudiced,  and  truthful  report  would  be  given  ;  but,  to  our  astonish 
ment,  we  find  that  fifty-three  of  the  sixty-six  pages  of  this  official 
document  are  an  exact  copy  of  the  Rev.  J.  B.  A.  Brouillet' s  work, 
thus  indorsing,  and  placing  in  an  official  document,  one  of  the  most 
maliciously  false  and  unreliable  accounts  that  a  prejudiced  and  deeply 
implicated  sectarian  could  give,  claiming  such  to  be  "  reliable  historical 
data" — thus  showing  both  his  prejudice  and  ignorance  in  the  conclu 
sion  he  arrived  at  as  to  the  causes  of  the  Indian  wars. 

Had  J.  Ross  Browne  been  willing  to  lay  aside  his  unreasonable 
sectarian  prejudice,  and  listen  to  the'  positive  testimony  then  in  the 
country,  he  could  easily  have  learned  who  were  the  prime  cause  of  all 
the  Indian  wars  in  it ;  or,  had  he  made  himself  familiar  (as  he  flip 
pantly  claims  to  have  done)  with  the  history  of  the  English  and  Amer 
ican  people,  the  policy  of  the  English  political  and  sectarian  powers, 
and  the  commercial  policy  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  he  would 
have  escaped  the  folly  of  placing  in  an  official  document  such  palpable 
errors,  and  showing  such  willful  ignorance  of  the  subject  he  was  com 
missioned  to  investigate. 


458  HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 

He  says,  on  page  2,  "It  was  a  war  of  destiny, — bound  to  take  place 
whenever  the  causes  reached  their  culminating  point"  The  "  destiny  " 
and  culminating  point  of  that  war  was  fixed  by  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  and  the  Jesuit  priests,  as  also  the  second  and  third  wars 
with  the  Indians  that  followed,  as  we  shall  show  by  positive  testimony 
of  witnesses  who  are  unimpeachable. 

Had  J.  Ross  Browne  carefully  examined  the  tissue  of  statements 
prepared  by  Father  Brouillet,  he  could  have  found  statements  like  this 
on  page  53  (38  of  J.  R.  B.),  "  I  knew  that  the  Indians  icere  angry  with, 
all  Americans  /"  page  54  (39  of  J.  R.  B.),  "  All  that  I  know  is  that 
the  Indians  say  the  order  to  kill  Americans  has  been  sent  in  all  direc 
tions." 

There  was  but  one  party  in  the  country  that  could  issue  such  an 
order,  which  Brouillet  well  knew,  and  the  testimony  we  shall  give  will 
prove. 

On  his  third  page,  he  says :  "  The  same  primary  causes  existed  in 
every  case, — encroachments  of  a  superior  upon  an  inferior  race."  He 
then  refers  to  the  agitation  of  the  Oregon  question  in  the  Senate  in 
1840-41;  to  Mr.  Thurston's  course  as  a  delegate;  the  treaties  with 
the  Indians,  etc., — showing  conclusively  the  sources  of  his  information, 
and  his  ignorance  of  the  causes  he  professed  to  give  a  truthful  and 
impartial  account  of, — barely  alluding  to  the  unwarranted  assumptions 
of  the  British  Hudson's  Bay  Company  of  an  exclusive  right  to  trade 
with  the  Indians.  In  fact,  the  whole  report  appears  to  be  a  studied 
effort  to  cover  the  prime  causes  of  the  difficulty,  and  of  the  Indian 
wars  he  was  commissioned  to  investigate  and  report  upon. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  with  the  foreign  emissaries  then  in  the 
country,  and  the  stupid  ignorance  or  malicious  bigotry  of  the  United 
States  agent,  that  such  reports  should  be  made ;  but  that  the  govern 
ment  should  adopt,  and  act  upon,  or  publish  them,  is  indeed  surprising ; 
unless,  as  the  history  of  the  late  rebellion  shows,  it  was  the  design  of 
those  agents  to  involve  the  whole  nation  in  an  ultimate  dismemberment, 
and  distinct,  separate  nationalities,  under  the  auspices  of  African,  Indian, 
and  religious  slavery.  We  regret  the  necessity  of  prefacing  a  chnpter 
in  this  work  with  so  severe  a  stricture  upon  a  government  official,  yet 
his  report  is  so  manifestly  false  and  malicious,  and  without  the  evidence 
of  truth  or  candor  toward  the  Protestant  missionaries,  to  whom  is  due, 
more  than  to  any  other  influence,  the  settlement  of  the  country  by 
the  American  people, — that,  in  justice  to  them,  and  the  truth  of  history, 
we  can  say  no  less,  while  we  proceed  with  the  account  of  the  murder 
of  Dr.  Whitman  and  those  at  his  station. 

The  necessity  and  importance  of  an  extended  and  particular  account 


REV.  DR.   TREAT'S   ARTICLE.  459 

becomes  still  more  important  from  the  fact  that  the  Roman  Jesuits  in 
the  country  have  succeeded  in  placing  through  such  an  agent  their  false 
account  of  the  massacre  in  a  permanent  government  document, — thus 
slandering  not  only  the  dead,  but  the  living,  whose  duty  it  becomes  to 
refute  such  vile  slanders  by  publishing  the  whole  truth  in  the  case. 
Besides,  the  very  Rev.  J.  B.  A.  Brouillet,  in  \\  second  edition  of  his  false 
and  absurd  production,  refers  to  this  report  of  J.  R.  Browne,  as  addi 
tional  official  evidence  of  the  truth  of  his  own  false  statements,  previ 
ously  made  through  such  agents,  and  such  men  as  Sir  James  Douglas, — 
compelling  us,  in  vindicating  the  truth  of  history,  to  place  before  the 
reader  more  of  the  statements  of  parties  implicated  than  was  our  origi 
nal  design. 

Since  this  work  has  been  in  press,  we  have  an  article  in  the  New  York 
Evangelist  of  6th  of  January,  1870,  from  the  pen  of  Rev.  Mr.  Treat, 
D.  D.,  containing  a  brief  statement  of  the  Whitman  massacre,  and  the 
following  as  the  result  of  the  investigations  as  had  in  several  religious 
bodies  in  Oregon  ;  the  conclusion  is  as  follows : — 

"  It  so  happens,  however,  that  men  who  are  more  competent  to  adju 
dicate  the  case  have  not  hesitated  to  do  so.  The  Congregational  Asso 
ciation  of  Oregon  adopted  a  report  in  June  last,  which  condemns  the 
*  prominent  and  absolute  falsehoods '  of  Father  Brouiilet's  pamphlet, 
and  expresses  the  belief,  '  from  evidence,  clear  and  sufficient  to  them, 
that  the  Roman  Catholic  priests  did  themselves  instigate  violence  to 
the  missions,  resulting  in  massacre.'  Similar  action  was  taken  by  the 
Old  School  Presbytery,  the  Cumberland  Presbytery,  and  the  U.  P. 
Presbytery.  The  Methodist  Conference,  composed  of  more  than  seventy 
preachers,  and  under  the  presidency  of  Bishop  Kingsley,  adopted  a 
comprehensive  and  able  report,  which  was  published  at  Portland,  Sep 
tember  25,  1869,  in  which  the  massacre  at  Wailatpu  is  declared  to  have 
been  '  wholly  unprovoked  by  Dr.  Whitman  or  any  other  member  of 
the  mission,'  and  to  have  arisen  from  the  policy  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  '  to  exclude  American  settlers,'  and  the  '  efforts  of  Roman 
priests  directed  against  the  establishment  of  Protestantism  in  the 
country.'  It  is  believed  that  the  other  evangelical  denominations  in 
Oregon  have  spoken  with  the  same  distinctness  and  the  same  confidence. 

"  Valuable  testimony  is  borne  to  the  character  of  the  missionaries 
who  survived  Dr.  Whitman,  and  who  have  been  residents  of  Oregon  to 
this  day,  as  also  to  the  fidelity  and  success  of  their  labors,  but  there 
is  not  space  for  it  in  the  present  article.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that,  while 
the  motives  of  Hon.  J.  Ross  Browne,  in  appending  Father  Brouiilet's 
pamphlet  to  his '  Letter,'  and  the  reasons  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
for  publishing  the  same,  are  open  to  grave  suspicion,  facts  and  opinions 


4-60  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

have  been  elicited,  which  throw  additional  light  upon  the  manifold 
bearings  and  uses  of  the  missionary  enterprise." 

On  page  40  of  Rev.  J.  B.  A.  Brouillet's  "  Protestantism  in  Oregon," 
and  page  33  of  J.  Ross  Browned  report,  we  find,  under  date  of  Sep 
tember  5,  1847,  that  "the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Blanchet  arrived  at 
old  Fort  Wallawalla  (now  called  Wallula),  where  he  was  cordially 
received  by  Mr.  McBean,  clerk  in  charge  of  said  fort.  He  was  ac 
companied  by  the  superior  of  Oblates  arid  two  other  clergymen.  He 
had  the  intention  of  remaining  but  a  few  days  at  the  fort,  for  he 
knew  that  Tawatowe  (or  Young  Chief),  one  of  the  Cay  use  chiefs,  had 
a  house  which  he  had  designed  for  the  Catholic  missionaries,  and  he 
intended  to  go  and  occupy  it  without  delay ;  but  the  absence  of  the 
Young  Chief,  who -was  hunting  buffalo,  created  a  difficulty  in  regard 
to  the  occupation  of  the  house,  and  in  consequence  of  it  he  had  to  wait 
longer  than  he  wished." 

The  house  here  spoken  of  was  erected  during  the  summer  of  1837, 
before  any  Catholic  missionaries  were  thought  of,  at  least  among  the 
Indians,  or  by  the  American  missionaries,  and  it  was  late  in  the  fall  of 
1838  that  Revs.  Blanchet  and  Demerse  passed  down  the  Columbia 
River.  These  first  missionaries  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  wishing  to  do 
Mr.  P.  C.  Pambrun,  then  clerk  of  the  post,  a  special  favor,  baptized 
the  infant  son  of  the  Young  Chief,  for  whose  benefit  and  occupation, 
Mr.  Pambrun  said,  the  company  had  ordered  that  house  to  be  built.  If 
it  was  designed  for  these  priests,  who  was  the  designer  ? 

Mr.  Brouillet,  in  his  narrative,  says : — 

"  On  the  23d  of  September,  Dr.  Whitman,  on  his  way  from  the  Dalles, 
stopped  at  Fort  Wallawalla.  His  countenance  bore  sufficient  testimony 
to  the  agitation  of  his  heart.  He  soon  showed  by  his  words  that  he 
was  deeply  wounded  by  the  arrival  of  the  bishop.  '  I  know  very  well,' 
said  he,  *  for  what  purpose  you  have  come.'  '  All  is  known,'  replied  the 
bishop;  'I  come  to  labor  for  the  conversion  of  the  Indians,  and  even  of 
Americans,  if  they  are  willing  to  listen  to  me.'  The  doctor  thiMi  con 
tinued,  in  the  same  tone,  to  speak  of  many  things.  He  attributed  the 
coming  of  the  bishop  to  the  Young  Chief's  influence !  made  a  furious 
charge  against  the  Catholics,  accusing  them  of  having  persecuted 
Protestants  and  even  of  having  shed  their  blood  wherever  they  had 
prevailed.  He  said  he  did  not  like  Catholics  *  *  *  that  he  should 
oppose  the  missionaries  to  the  extent  of  his  power.  *  *  *  He  spoke 
against  the  Catholic  Ladder!*  and  said  that  he  would  cover  it  with 
blood,  to  show  the  persecution  of  Protestants  by  Catholics.  He  refused 

*  A  picture  explaining  the  principal  points  of  Catholic  faith. 


DR.   WHITMAN   AND  THE   PEIESTS.  461 

to  sell  provisions  to  the  bishop,  and  protested  he  would  not  assist  the 
missionaries  unless  he  saw  them  in  starvation." 

It  is  barely  possible  that  Dr.  Whitman  said  all  that  this  priest  says 
he  did.  In  that  case,  did  he  forfeit  his  own  and  the  lives  of  all  that  fell 
with  him  ?  This  narrative  of  Protestantism  reveals  a  dark  page  in  our 
history, — one  that  should  be  thoroughly  investigated  as  well  as  under 
stood  by  all. 

On  the  24th  page,  33d  of  Ross  Browne's  report,  this  priest  says: — 
"  After  such  a  manifestation  of  sentiment  toward  Catholics  in  o-eneral 

<T5 

and  priests  in  particular,  the  bishop  was  not  astonished  in  hearing  some 
hours  after  that  Dr.  Whitman,  on  leaving  the  fort,  went  to  the  lodge  of 
Piopiornoxmox  (Yellow  Serpent) ;  that  he  had  spoken  a  great  deal 
against  the  priests ;  that  he  had  wished  to  prevail  upon  this  chief  to  co 
operate  with  him,  in  order  that  by  the  aid  of  his  influence  with  the 
Cayuses,  Des  Chutes,  and  Dalles  Indians,  he  might  be  enabled  to  excite 
these  nations  against  them,  etc." 

That  Dr.  Whitman  did  as  he  is  represented  to  Lave  done  no  one  ac 
quainted  with  him  will  believe  for  a  moment.  But  Bishop  Blanchet's 
letter  to  Governor  Abernethy  is  evidence  conclusive  that  he  and  his 
priests  had  done  exactly  what  they  here  say  Dr.  Whitman  attempted 
to  do. 

"  During  the  months  of  October  and  November,"  Brouillet  says  "  the 
Doctor  came  to  the  fort  several  times  to  render  his  professional  services 
to  Mrs.  Maxwell  and  Mr.  Thomas  McKay ;  he  was  a  little  more  reserved 
than  at  the  first  interview,  but  it  was  always  visible  enough  that  the 
sight  of  the  bishop  and  his  clergy  was  far  from  being  agreeable  to 
him." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Mr.  Brouillet  is  giving  this  narrative  and 
speaking  of  a  man  whose  blood  had  been  shed  in  the  cause  of  "  Prot 
estantism  in  Oregon"  as  he  calls  the  title  of  his  work,  which  he  is 
writing  to  correct  the  impression  that  he  and  his  associates  were  in 
some  way  concerned  in  bringing  it  about.  In  his  allusions  and  state 
ments,  he  seems  to  be  anxious  to  prove  that;  Dr.  Whitman  and  all  Prot 
estants  and  Americans  in  the  country  are  guilty  of  the  crime  laid  to  the 
influence  of  the  priests,  and  by  giving  these  statements  expects  every 
body  will  believe  them  to  be  wholly  innocent.  J.  Ross  Browne,  in  his 
report,  3d  page,  agrees  with  this  priest,  and  refers  to  supposed  trans 
actions  (that  did  not  occur)  in  1835.  At  that  time  there  was  not  a  band 
or  tribe  of  Indians  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  but  was  ready  to  give 
land  to  any  white  man  that  would  come  and  live  in  their  country.  This 
land  question,  as  stated  by  Brouillet  and  Ross  Browne,  or  the  "  en 
croachments  of  a  superior  upon  an  inferior  race^  had  no  part  in  the 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

matter.  It  was  a  foreign  national  question,  as  we  have  already  shown, 
and  we  now  propose  to  quote  these  statements  from  his  narrative,  to 
show  the  intimate  connection  there  was  between  the  Jesuit  priests,  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  the  Indians,  and  the  Whitman  massacre. 

According  to  Brouillet,  the  bishop  and  his  priests  remained  at  Fort 
Wallawalla  from  the  5th  of  September  till  the  26th  of  October  (fifty 
days),  enjoying  the  hospitality  of  Mr.  McBean,  and  seeing  Dr.  Whitman 
occasionally,  till,  on  the  26th,  the  Young  Chief  arrived.  "The  bishop 
wished  to  know  of  him  if  he  wanted  a  priest  for  him  and  his  young  men, 
telling  him  that  he  could  only  give  him  one  for  the  whole  nation,  and 
if  the  Cayuses  wished  to  avail  themselves  of  his  services  they  would  do 
well  to  come  to  an  understanding  together  concerning  the  location  of  the 
mission.  The  chief  told  the  bishop  he  wished  a  priest,  and  that  he 
could  have  his  house  and  as  much  land  as  he  wanted."  So  far  this 
statement  bears  the  natural  impress  of  truth,  but  mark  the  -words  here 
put  into  the  chief's  mouth,  "  but  as  a  means  of  reuniting  the  Cayuses 
who  had  been  heretofore  divided,  and  in  order  to  facilitate  their  religious 
instruction,  he  suggested  the  idea  of  establishing  the  mission  near  Dr. 
Whitman's,  at  the  camp  of  Tilokaikt." 

The  previous  history  of  this  chief,  as  given  by  Revs.  Hines,  Perkins, 
and  Dr.  White,  all  goes  to  prove  that  he  never  made  such  a  sugges 
tion,  and  no  one  acquainted  with  Indian  character  will  believe  for  a 
moment  that  he  did.  But  the  suggestion  was  without  doubt  made  to 
him  to  impress  upon  his  mind  the  importance  of  uniting  with  other 
bands  of  his  tribe  to  get  rid  of  Dr.  Whitman,  as  shown  by  this  priest 
in  the  council  that  was  held  on  the  4th  of  November,  by  special  request 
of  the  bishop  sent  to  Tilokaikt  on  the  29th  October,  purporting  to  be 
by  request  of  the  Young  Chief.  The  dates  show,  as  per  Brouillet,  that 
the  Young  Chief  was  with  the  bishop  on  the  26th  ;  on  the  29th  the 
bishop  sent  for  Tilokaikt ;  and  on  the  4th  of  November  the  council  was 
held,  "  at  the  bishop's  request,"  who  opened  the  meeting  in  the  fort.  At 
this  meeting  the  proposition  is  said  to  have  been  made  to  the  bishop  to 
give  him  Dr.  Whitman's  station,  first  driving  him  away.  Says  T.  Mc 
Kay,  in  his  statement  to  acquit  these  priests,  speaking  of  this  meeting 
on  the  4th  of  November:  "One  of  the  chiefs  told  the  bishop  that  they 
would  send  the  Doctor  oif  very  soon  ;  they  would  give  him  his  house  if 
he  wished.  The  bishop  answered  that  he  would  not  take  the  Doctor's 
house,  that  he  did  not  wish  him  to  send  the  Doctor  away,  and  that  there 
was  room  enough  for  two  missions"  This  was,  as  understood  by  the 
Indians,  "  The  bishop  intends  to  have  a  place  near  Dr.  Whitman's,  and 
he  wishes  us  to  dispose  of  the  Doctor  in  some  way  so  that  he  can  have 
a  place  where  all  the  Cayuses  can  be  instructed  together  in  his  religion." 


MR.   KIMZEY'S  OATH.  463 

In  accordance  with  the  understanding  had  with  the  bishop  and  Cay- 
uses  in  this  council  on  the  4th,  this  priest  says  (see  p.  44  of  Brouillet, 
34  of  J.  R.  Browne) :  "  On  the  8th  of  November  I  went  by  order  of  the 
bishop  to  Wailatpu  to  look  at  the  land  which  Tilokaikt  had  offered; 
but  he  had  changed  his  mind,  and  refused  to  show  it  to  me,  saying  that 
it  was  too  small.  He  told  me  that  he  had  no  place  to  give  me  but  that 
of  Dr.  Whitman,  whom  he  intended  to  send  away.  I  declared  to  him 
a  second  time  the  same  as  the  bishop  had  done  at  the  meeting,  that  I 
would  not  have  the  place  of  Dr.  Whitman.  I  then  went  immediately  to 
the  camp  of  Young  Chief,  to  notify  him  that  I  would  take  his  house, 
since  I  was  unable  to  procure  a  place  from  Tilokaikt."  He  further  says 
he  returned  to  the  fort  on  the  10th,  and  on  the  llth,  an  associate,  Rev. 
Mr.  Rousseau,  left  with  his  men  to  repair  the  house,  which  was  ready 
by  the  26th,  and  on  the  27th  of  November  the  bishop  and  his  party 
started  for  the  house,  said  to  have  been  designed  for  them  (of  which 
there  is  no  doubt).  On  their  first  arrival  at  Wallawalla,  it  would  have 
been  the  wiser  course  for  them  to  have  accepted  of  it,  instead  of  at 
tempting,  through  the  influence  of  the  company,  to  get  possession  of 
Dr.  Whitman's  station,  or  the  consent  of  the  Indians,  as  they  say  they 
did,  to  locate  near  the  station.  But  we  have  positive  proof  of  the 
design  of  Mr.  McBean,  the  agent  of  the  company,  and  the  bishop,  as 
given  in  the  testimony  of  Mr.  John  Kimzey. 

He  says  :  "  On  my  way  to  this  country  with  my  family  last  fall  (1847), 
I  called  at  Fort  Wallawalla  to  exchange  my  team  and  wagon  for  horses. 
There  were  at  the  fort  two  Roman  Catholic  priests.  During  my  stay  of 
about  two  days,  Mr.  McBean,  in  the  presence  of  my  wife,  said,  '  The 
fathers  have  offered  to  purchase  Dr.  Whitman's  station,  but  Dr.  Whit 
man  has  refused  to  sell.'  He  said  they  had  requested  the  Doctor  to  fix 
his  own  price  and  they  wrould  meet  it,  but  the  Doctor  had  refused  to  sell 
on  any  conditions.  I  asked  him  who  he  meant  by  the  fathers?  He 
said  '  The  holy  fathers,  the  Catholic  priests?  He  said  the  holy  fathers 
were  about  to  commence  a  mission  at  the  mouth  of  the  Umatilla, — one 
in  the  upper  part  of  the  Umatilla,  one  near  Dr.  Whitman's  station, 
if  they  could  not  get  hold  of  the  station,  one  in  several  other  places 
which  I  can  not  name.  They  hired  Mr.  Marsh,  whose  tools  I  brought, 
to  do  off  a  room  for  the  priests  at  the  fort.  He  said,  '  Dr.  Whitman  had 
better  leave  the  country  or  the  Indians  would kill  him  /  we  are  determined 
to  have  his  station.''  He  further  said,  'Mr.  Spalding  will  also  have  to 
leave  this  country  soon.'  As  I  was  about  leaving,  Mr.  McBean  said  :  '  If 
you  could  pass  as  an  Englishman,  the  Indians  would  not  injure  you  ;  if 
they  do  disturb  you,  show  them  the  horses  and  the  marks,  and  they 
will  know  my  horses ;  show  them  by  signs  that  you  are  from  the  fort, 


404:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

and  they  will  let  you  pass.'  The  Indians  noticed  the  marks  on  the 
horses  and  did  not  disturb  me. 

"JOHN    KlMZEY." 

"  Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  at  my  office  in  Tualatin  Plains 
[now  Washington  County],  this  28th  day  of  August,  1848. 

"DAVID  T.  LENOX,  Justice  of  the  Peace." 

This  is  fully  confirmed  by  the  oath  of  R.  S.  Wileox,  as  having  heard 
the  statement  from  Mr.  Kimzey  the  night  after  he  left  the  fort,  in  camp 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Umatilla,  before  the  same  justice  of  the  peace.  Mr. 
Wilcox  says  Mr.  Kimzey  was  much  alarmed,  and  really  believed  that  it 
was  the  design  of  the  priests'  party  to  kill  Dr.  Whitman  and  drive  the 
American  missionaries  out  of  the  country.  His  reply  was,  "  The  Cath 
olics  have  not  got  that  station  yet." 

Had  we  not  the  best  English  testimony,  Fitzgerald's,  and  the  state 
ments  of  P.  J.  De  Smet  and  Hoikin  in  their  letters  to  their  missionary 
society  in  Brussels,  to  show  the  connection  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  with  this  transaction,  the  facts  above  stated  would  fasten  the 
conviction  of  a  strong  and  outspoken  determination  to  overthrow  the 
Protestant  missions.  It  will  be  remembered  that  these  threats  and 
efforts  to  get  rid  of  Dr.  Whitman  were  made  before  the  appearance  of 
any  sickness  or  measles  among  the  Cayuses. 

Mr.  Brouillet,  on  the  84th  page  of  his  narrative,  says  "  But  I  affirm 
that  such  a  demand  has  never  been  made  to  Dr.  Whitman  by  any  one 
of  us."  We  are  not  disposed  to  dispute  Mr.  Brouillet's  affirmation,  be 
it  true  or  false.  The  truth  is  all  we  seek  to  know. 

The  reader  will  not  be  particularly  interested  in  the  long  details  of 
statements  made  by  this  priest  to  show  that  they  had  no  part  in  bring- 
in  £  about  the  destruction  of  the  Protestant  missions  and  the  Whitman 

O 

massacre.     Mr.  McBean  and  Sir  James  Douglas  have  written  cxten- 

O 

sively,  together  with  P.  II.  Burnett,  Esq.,  and  this  Rev.  Vicar-Gen  oral 
Brouillet,  to  show  that  nobody  is  responsible  for  that  crime  but  the 
missionaries  who  were  murdered  and  the  Indians,  while  Rev.  Messrs. 
Griffin  and  Spalding  have  attempted  to  fasten  the  whole  crime  upon 
the  Roman  priests  alone.  It  appears  from  Mr.  Spalding's  account  that 
he  met  Mr.  Brouillet  and  the  bishop  at  Wallawalla  on  the  26th  of  Novem 
ber,  and  had  a  sectarian  discussion  with  them,  which  he  thought  was 
friendly,  yet  from  the  fact  that  this  priest  barely  alludes  to  the  AM  sit, 
and  not  a  word  of  the  discussion  is  mentioned,  we  infer  that  Mr.  Spal 
ding  had  the  best  of  the  argument,  and  that  he  was  entirely  mistaken 
as  to  the  friendly  manner  in  which  they  could  conduct  their  missions 


DR.   WHITMAN'S  VISIT  TO   UMATILLA.  465 

in  the  same  section  of  country.  We  will  not  attempt  to  reconcile  the 
conflicting  statements  of  these  missionary  parties,  but  will  collect  the 
most  reliable  facts  and  particulars  of  the  tragic  events  in  which  these 
parties  and  the  whole  country  became  so  deeply  involved, — a  part  of 
them  so  strongly  implicated. 

That  the  massacre  was  expected  to  take  place  in  a  short  time,  and 
that  all  the  Americans  at  the  station,  and  all  in  any  way  connected 
with,  or  favoring,  the  Protestant  missions  and  American  settlements  in 
the  country,  were  to  be  included  in  the  ultimate  overthrow  of  those 
upper,  or  middle  Oregon  missions,  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  as  shown  in 
the  quotations  we  have  given  from  our  English  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany's  historian  and  Sir  Edward  Belcher,  and  the  efforts  of  the  com 
pany  to  colonize  the  country  with  English  subjects  from  Red  River, 
instead  of  encouraging  them  to  come  direct  from  England. 

It  appears  from  the  dates  and  accounts  we  have,  that  Dr.  Whitman 
was  sent  for  to  visit  Five  Crow's  lodge  on  the  Umatilla,  not  far  from 
the  house  to  be  occupied  by  the  bishop  and  his  priests ;  that  Mr.  Spal- 
ding  accompanied  the  doctor  to  visit  some  of  the  Protestant  Indians 
in  that  vicinity;  that  the  same  day  (the  27th  of  November),  the 
bishop  and  his  priests  started  from  Walla  walla  to  go  to  their  station  and 
occupy  the  house  of  Young  Chief.  They  arrived  at  their  places  and 
learned  that  Dr.  Whitman  and  Mr.  Spalding  were  in  the  neighborhood. 
On  the  next  day,  Sunday,  28th,  Dr.  Whitman  made  a  short  call  on 
them,  and  hastened  home  to  attend  on  the  sick  about  his  place.  While 
at  the  lodge  of  a  French  half-breed  named  Nicholas  Finlay,  the  Indians 
were  holding  a  council,  to  decide  and  arrange  the  preliminaries  of  the 
massacre,  with  Joe  Lewis,  a  Canadian-Indian,  and  Joe  Stanfield,  a 
Frenchman.  Of  this  last-named  man,  Mr.  Brouillet  says  :  "  As  to  Joseph 
Stanfield,  I  admit  that  he  was  born  and  has  been  educated  a  Catholic." 
He  lays  great  stress  on  the  fact  that  this  fellow  had  been  tried  and 
acquitted.  He  says :  "  Why  should  we  pretend  now  to  be  more  en 
lightened  and  wiser  than  the  tribunals  have  been,  and  judge  him  more 
severely  than  they  have  done." 

Dr.  Whitman  arrived  at  his  station  about  twelve  o'clock  at  night, 
attended  upon  the  sick,  and  retired.  That  night  an  Indian  had  died. 
In  the  morning,  the  Doctor,  as  usual,  had  a  coffin  and  a  winding-sheet 
prepared,  and  assisted  the  friends  in  burying  their  dead.  He  observed, 
on  returning  to  the  house,  that  but  two  or  three  attended  at  the  grave. 
As  he  returned,  great  numbers  of  Indians  were  seen  gathering  about 
the  station ;  but  an  ox  had  been  killed,  and  was  being  dressed,  which 
was  supposed  to  be  the  cause,  as  the  Indians  on  such  occasions  always 
collected  in  great  numbers,  and  often  from  a  distance. 
30 


CHAPTER  LV. 

Occupations  of  the  victims  immediately  before  the  massacre. — Description  of  the  mis 
sion  buildings. — The  Doctor  called  into  the  kitchen  to  be  murdered. — Joe  Lewis, 
the  leader  in  the  massacre. — The  scene  outside. — The  Doctor's  house  plundered. — 
Mrs.  Whitman  shot. — Brutalities  to  the  dead  and  dying. — Escape  of  some  and 
murder  of  others. — Safety  of  the  French  Papists  and  the  servants  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company. — Fate  of  Joe  Lewis. 

JOSEPH  STANFIELD  had  brought  in  the  ox  from  the  plains,  and  it  had 
been  shot  by  Francis  Sager.  Messrs.  Kimball,  Canfield,  and  Hoffman 
were  dressing  it  between  the  two  houses ;  Mr.  Sanders  was  in  the  school, 
which  he  had  just  called  in  for  the  afternoon  ;  Mr.  Marsh  was  grinding 
at  the  mill ;  Mr.  Gillan  was  on  his  tailor's  bench  in  the  large  adobe 
house,  a  short  distance  from  the  doctor's  ;  Mr.  Hall  was  at  work  laying 
a  floor  to  a  room  adjoining  the  Doctor's  house  ;  Mr.  Rogers  was  in  the 
garden ;  Mr.  Osborn  and  family  were  in  the  Indian  room  adjoining  the 
Doctor's  sitting-room  ;  young  Mr.  Sales  was  lying  sick  in  the  family 
of  Mr.  Canfield,  who  was  living  in  the  blacksmith  shop ;  young  Mr. 
Bewley  was  sick  in  the  Doctor's  house ;  John  Sager  was  sitting  in  the 
kitchen  but  partially  recovered  from  the  measles  ;  the  Doctor  and  Mrs. 
Whitman,  with  their  three  sick  children,  and  Mrs.  Osborn  and  her  sick 
child,  were  in  the  dining  or  sitting  room. 

The  mission  buildings  occupied  a  triangular  space  of  ground  fronting 
the  north  in  a  straight  line,  about  four  hundred  feet  in  length.  The 
Doctor's  house,  standing  on  the  west  end,  and  fronting  west,  was. 
18x62  feet,  adobe  walls ;  library  and  bedroom  on  south  end;  dining 
and  sitting  room  in  the  middle,  18x24;  Indian  room  on  north  end, 
18  x  26  ;  kitchen  on  the  east  side  of  the  house,  18  x  26,  fireplace  in  the 
middle,  and  bedroom  in  rear;  schoolroom  joining  on  the  east  of  the 
kitchen,  18  x  30  ;  blacksmith  shop,  150  feet  east ;  the  house  called  the 
mansion  on  the  east  end  of  the  angle,  32  x  40  feet,  one  and  a  half  stories  ; 
the  mill,  made  of  wood,  standing  upon  the  old  site,  about  four  hundred 
feet  from  either  house.  The  east  and  south  space  of  ground  was  pro 
tected  by  the  mill-pond  and  Wallawalla  Creek — north  front  by  a  ditch 
that  discharged  the  waste  water  from  the  mill,  and  served  to  irrigate 
the  farm  in  front  of  the  Doctor's  house,  which  overlooked  the  whole. 
To  the  north  and  east  is  a  high  knoll,  less  than  one-fourth  of  a  mile  dis 
tant  ;  and  directly  to  the  north,  three-fourths  of  a  mile  distant,  is  Mill 


THE   DOCTOR  CALLED  TO  BE   MURDERED.  4(57 

Creek.     In  a  military  or  defensive  question,  the  premises  could  be  easily 
protected  from  small-arms  or  cavalry. 

While  the  Doctor  was  sitting  with  his  family  as  above  stated, 
several  Indians,  who  had  come  into  the  kitchen,  came  to  the  door 
leading  to  the  dining-room,  and  requested  him  to  come  into  the 
kitchen.  He  did  so,  taking  his  bible  in  his  hand,  in  which  he  was  read 
ing,  and  shut  the  door  after  him.  Edward  Sager  sat  down  by  his  side 
and  asked  for  medicine.  Tilokaikt  commenced  a  conversation  with 
him,  when  Tamsaky,  an  Indian,  called  the  Murderer,  and  the  one 
that  told  the  bishop  at  Wallawalla  he  would  give  him  the  Doc 
tor's  station,  came  behind  him,  and,  drawing  a  pipe  tomahawk  from 
under  his  blanket,  struck  the  Doctor  on  the  back  of  his  head.  The  first 
blow  stunned  him  and  his  head  fell  upon  his  breast,  but  the  second 
blow  followed  instantly  upon  the  top  of  his  head,  and  brought  him 
senseless  but  not  lifeless  to  the  floor. 

John  Sager,  rising  up,  attempted  to  draw  a  pistol;  the  Indians  before 
him  rushed  to  the  door  by  which  they  had  entered,  crying  out,  "  He 
will  shoot  us ; "  but  those  behind  seized  his  arms  and  threw  him  upon 
the  floor ;  at  the  same  time  he  received  shots  from  several  short  Hud 
son's  Bay  muskets,  which  had  been  concealed  under  their  blankets.  He 
was  cut  and  gashed  terribly  with  knives,  his  throat  was  cut,  and  a 
woolen  tippet  stuffed  into  it, — still  he  lingered.  In  the  struggle,  two 
Indians  were  wounded,  one  in  the  foot,  the  other  in  the  hand,  by  each 
other. 

Mrs,  Whitman,  as  soon  as  the  tumult  commenced,  overhearing  and 
judging  the  cause,  began  in  agony  to  stamp  upon  the  floor  and  wring 
her  hands,  crying  out,  "  Oh,  the  Indians !  the  Indians !  That  Joe  (re 
ferring  to  Joe  Lewis)  has  done  it  all !"  Mrs.  Osborn  stepped  into  the 
Indian  room  with  her  child,  and  in  a  short  time  Mr,  Osborn  and  family 
were  secreted  under  the  floor. 

Without  coming  into  the  other  rooms,  the  Indians  left  the  kitchen, 
to  aid  in  the  dreadful  destruction  without.  At  this  moment  Mrs.  Hays 
ran  in  from  the  mansion-house,  and,  with  her  assistance,  Mrs.  Whitman 
drew  her  dying  husband  into  the  dining-room,  and  placed  his  mangled, 
bleeding  head  upon  a  pillow,  and  did  all  her  frightful  situation  would 
allow  to  stay  the  blood  and  revive  him,  but  to  no  purpose.  The 
dreadful  work  was  done.  To  every  question  that  was  put  to  him,  he 
would  simply  reply,  "  No,"  in  a  low  whisper.  After  receiving  the  first 
blow,  he  was  probably  insensible. 

About  this  time,  Mr.  Kimball  ran  into  the  room  through  the  kitchen, 
and  rushed  up-stairs  with  a  broken  arm  hanging  by  his  side.  He  was 
immediately  followed  by  Mr.  Rogers,  who,  in  addition  to  a  wounded 


468  HISTORY  or  OREGON. 

arm,  was  tomahawked  in  the  side  of  the  head  and  covered  with  blood. 
He  assisted  Mrs.  "Whitman  in  making  fast  all  the  doors,  and  in  remov 
ing  the  sick  children  up-stairs. 

Joe  Lewis,  a  Roman  Catholic  Indian,  is  asserted,  by  those  who  have 
traced  his  course,  to  have  come  from  Canada  with  the  party  of  priests  and 
French  that  crossed  the  plains  in  1847,  and  by  whom  it  is  affirmed  the 
measles  were  brought  into  the  immigrant  trains  that  year.  The  priests' 
party  brought  him  to  Boise,  and  there  left  him  to  find  his  way  to  Dr. 
Whitman's.  He  attempted  to  make  arrangements  with  an  immigrant 
family  to  come  to  the  Wallamet,  but  was  afterward  furnished  with  a 
horse  and  supplies,  and  traveled  with  a  Cayuse  Indian.  While  at  Boise, 
making  his  arrangements  with  the  immigrant  family,  he  told  them  there 
was  going  to  be  a  great  overturn  at  Dr.  Whatman**  and  in  the  Walla- 
met.  How  or  what  the  overturn  was  to  be,  the  party  did  not  learn,  but 
supposed  it  might  be  from  immigration  or  some  change  in  the  govern 
ment  of  the  country.  lie  arrived  at  Dr.  Whitman's  apparently  desti 
tute  of  clothes  and  shoes.  He  made  himself  at  home  at  once,  as  he  could 
speak  English,  French,  and  a  little  Nez  Perce.  He  had  been  at  the  station 
but  a  few  days,  before  the  Doctor  and  the  two  Sager  boys  learned  that 
he  was  making  disturbance  among  the  Indians.  The  Doctor  finding 
some  immigrant  families  who  wanted  a  teamster,  furnished  him  with 
shoes  and  a  shirt,  and  got  him  to  go  with  them.  He  was  gone  three 
days,  and  the  second  night  ran  away  from  the  man  he  had  agreed  to 
go  with,  and  returned  about  the  station.  He  spent  most  of  his  time  in 
the  lodge  of  Nicholas  Finlay,  the  common  resort  of  Stanficld  and  the 
Indians  engaged  in  the  scenes  we  are  relating ;  and  was  the  leader  in 
the  whole  affair.  lie  was«seen  several  times  approaching  the  windows 
with  a  gun,  but  when  Mrs.  Whitman  would  ask,  "  Joe,  what  do  you 
want  ?"  he  would  run  away. 

The  scene  outside,  by  this  time,  had  attained  the  summit  of  its  fury. 
The  screams  of  the  fleeing  women  and  children,  the  groans  and  struggles 
of  the  falling,  dying  victims,  the  roar  of  musketry,  the  whistling  of 
balls,  the  blows  of  the  war-club,  the  smoke  of  powder,  the  furious  riding 
of  naked,  painted  Indians,  the  unearthly  yells  of  infuriated  savages, 
•'$elf-maddened, like  tigers,  by  the  smell  of  human  blood, — the  legitimate 
fruits  of  Romish  superstitions  faithfully  implanted  in  the  savage  mind. 

Mrs.  Whitman  remained  by  the  side  of  her  husband,  who  was  pale 
and  gasping  in  death.  Two  Americans  were  overpowered  and  cut  down 
by  the  crowd  under  her  window,  which  drew  her  attention,  and  gave 
an  opportunity  for  an  Indian,  that  had  always  been  treated  kindly  by 
her,  to  level  his  gun.  His  victim  received  the  ball,  through  the  window, 
in  her  right  breast,  and  fell,  uttering  a  single  groan.  In  a  few  moments 


THE   MASSACRE. 

she  revived,  rose  and  went  to  the  settee,  and  kneeling  in  prayer  was 
heard  to  pray  for  their  adopted  children  (the  Sager  family,  who  had  lost 
father  and  mother  in  crossing  the  plains,  now  again  to  be  left  orphans), 
and  for  her  aged  father  and  mother  in  the  States,  that  they  might  be 
sustained  under  this  terrible  shock  (made  a  thousand-fold  more  so  by 
the  infamous  account  of  it  given  by  Sir  James  Douglas  in  his  Sandwich 
Islands  letter),  which  the  newrs  of  her  fate  must  occasion.  Soon  after 
this  she  was  helped  into  the  chamber,  where  wrere  now  collected  Mrs. 
Whitman.,  Mrs.  Hays,  Miss  Bewley,  Catharine  Sager,  Messrs.  Kimball 
and  Rogers,  and  the  three  sick  children. 

They  had  scarcely  gained  this  temporary  retreat,  when  the  crash  of 
windows  and  doors,  and  the  deafening  war-whoop,  tore  the  last  hope 
from  their  fainting  hearts.  The  rooms  below  were  plundered  of  their 
property, — the  furniture  dashed  to  pieces  and  cast  out.  Joe  Lewis  was 
seen  to  be  among  the  foremost  to  dash  in  the  windows  and  brino-  out 

£j  O 

the  goods.  Here  a  deed  was  perpetrated  similar  to  that  of  the  refined 
and  Christian  Catholic  people  of  Burgos,  in  Spain,  when  they  murdered 
and  cut  up  their  governor  for  attempting  to  obey  the  law  and  take  an 
invoice  of -church  property. 

The  Cayuse  Indian  Tilokaikt  went  into  the  room  where  the  Doctor 
lay  yet  breathing,  and  with  his  hatchet  deliberately  chopped  his  face 
terribly  to  pieces,  but  left  him  still  alive.  Some  Indian,  also,  cut  the 
face  of  John  Sager  while  he  was  yet  alive. 

About  this  time,  Joe  Lewis  went  into  the  schoolroom  and  sought 
out  the  children,  who  were  hid  in  the  upper  loft,  and  brought  them  into 
the  kitchen  to  be  shot.  As  Francis  passed  by  his  mangled,  gasping 
brother,  he  stooped  and  took  the  woolen  tippet  from  the  gash  in  his 
throat,  when  John  attempted  to  speak,  but  immediately  expired.  Upon 
this,  Francis  turned  to  his  sister  and  said, ."I  shall  soon  follow  my 
brother."  The  children  were  kept  in  this  painful  position  for  some 
time.  Eliza  Spalding  was  among  them,  and  understood  every  word 
spoken  by  the  Indians,  who,  having  finished  their  terrible  slaughter 
without,  were  filling  the  room  and  the  doorways,  with  their  guns 
pointed  at  the  heads  and  hearts  of  the  children,  constantly  yelling, 
"  Shall  we  shoot  ?"  Eliza  says  her  blood  became  cold,  and  she  could 
not  stand,  but  leaned  over  upon  the  sink,  covering  her  face  with  her 
apron,  that  she  might  not  see  them  shoot  her.  From  this  place  they 
were  removed  out  of  the  door  by  the  side  of  the  Indian  room,  just 
before  Mrs.  Whitman  was  brought  out  to  be  shot. 

Immediately  after  breaking  into  the  house,  the  Indians  called  to  Mrs. 
Whitman  and  Mr.  Rogers  to  come  down,  and  on  receiving  no  answer, 
Tamsaky  (the  Indian  who  was  the  most  anxious  to  have  the  bishop 


4:70  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

and  his  priests  take  the  Doctor's  place),  started  to  go  up-stairs,  but 
discovering  the  end  of  an  old  gun  (placed  there  by  Miss  Bewley), 
he  desisted,  and  entered  into  conversation  with  those  above.  He 
urged  them  to  come  down,  assuring  them  that  no  one  should  hurt 
them.  Mrs.  Whitman  told  him  she  was  shot,  and  had  not  strength  to 
come  down,  besides  she  feared  they  would  kill  her.  Tamsaky  expressed 
much  sorrow  on  learning  that  Mrs.  Whitman  was  wounded,  and 
promised  that  no  one  should  be  hurt  if  they  would  come  down.  Mrs* 
Whitman  replied,  "  If  you  are  my  friend,  come  up  and  see  me."  He 
objected,  and  said  there  were  Americans  hid  in  the  chamber  with  arms 
to  kill  him.  Mr.  Rogers,  standing  at  the  head  of  the  stairs,  assured  him 
there  were  none,  and  very  soon  he  went  up  and  remained  some  time, 
apparently  sympathizing  with  the  sufferers,  assuring  them  that  he  was 
sorry  for  what  had  taken  place,  and  urged  Mrs.  Whitman  to  come 
down  and  be  taken  over  to  the  other  house  where  the  families  were, 
intimating  that  the  young  men  might  destroy  the  house  in  the  night. 
About  this  time  the  cry  was  heard  from  Joe  Lewis,  "  We  will  now  bum.'* 

Mrs.  Whitman  was  assisted  down  by  Mr.  Rogers  and  Mrs.  Hays;  on 
reaching  the  lower  room,  becoming  faint,  she  was  laid  upon  a  settee, 
and  taken  through  the  kitchen  over  the  dead  body  of  young  Sager, 
and  through  a  crowd  of  Indians.  As  the  settee  passed  ont  of  the  door, 
the  word  was  given  by  the  chief  not  to  shoot  the  children.  At  this 
moment  Mr.  Rogers  discovered  their  treachery,  and  had  only  time  to* 
drop  the  settee,  raise  his  hands  and  exclaim,  "O  my  God  !"  when  a 
volley  of  guns  was  fired  from  within  and  without  the  house,  part  at 
Mrs.  Whitman  and  part  at  himself.  He  fell  upon  his  face,  pierced 
with  many  balls. 

An  Indian  seized  Francis  Sager  from  among  the  children,  and  Joe 
Lewis  drew  his  pistol,  and  with  the  expression,  u  You  bad  boy"  shot 
him.  All  manner  of  Indian  brutality  and  insult  were  offered  to  the 
mangled  bodies  while  they  lay  groaning  and  dying,  till  wight  closed 
upon  the  scene,  and  the  Indians  retired  to  Finlay's  and  Tilokaikt's 
lodges  to  consult  as  to  further  outrage  upon  the  still  living  and  help 
less  victims. 

The  Canadian-Indian,  Joe  Lewis,  was  as  active  in  abusing  the  help 
less  girls  as  he  had  been  in  selecting  the  children  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company's  servants  to  be  protected  and  sent  away  from  such  as  were 
to  be  abused  and  slaughtered. 

Mr.  Kimball,  the  three  sick  children,  and  Catharine  Sager  remained 
in  the  chamber  all  night.  Mr.  Osborn  lay  under  the  floor  of  the  Indian 
room  till  the  Indians  retired.  He  then  made  his  escape  to  the  fort  at 
Walla  walla,  with  his  family.  The  three  men  at  the  beef  found  themselves 


ENGLISH,  FRENCH,  AND  JESUITS  UNHARMED.  471 

surrounded,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  volley  of  balls  from,  pistols  and  guns 
pointed  at  them.  All  three  were  wounded,  but  neither  fell.  They  fled 
as  best  they  could :  Mr.  Kimbail  to  the  house ;  Mr.  Canfield  to  the 
blacksmith  shop,  and  thence  to  the  mansion,  where  he  hid  himself,  and 
remained  till  night ;  then  fled  and  reached  Lapwai  before  Mr.  Spalding 
did.  Mr.  Hall  wrenched  a  gun,  which  had  missed  fire,  from  an  In 
dian's  hand,  and  ran  for  the  bushes  ;  reached  the  fort  next  morning  ; 
was  put  across  the  Columbia  River  by  Mr.  McBean's  order ;  and  was 
lost, — starved  to  death,  or  murdered  by  the  Indians,  we  know  not 
which,  Mr.  Gillan  was  shot  upon  his  bench.  Mr.  Marsh  was  shot  at 
the  mill ;  ran  a  short  distance  -toward  the  Doctor's  house  and  fell. 
Mr.  Saunders,  hearing  the  guns,  rushed  to  the  door  of  the  schoolroom, 
where  he  was  seized  by  several  Indians,  who  threw  him  upon  the 
ground  amid  a  shower  of  balls  and  tomahawks.  Being  a  strong  and 
active  man,  he  rose,  though  wounded,  and  ran  some  rods,  but  was 
overtaken,  surrounded,  and  cut  down.  Mr.  Hoffman  was  cut  down, 
after  fighting  desperately  with  a  knife,  his  body  cut  open,  and  hie 
heart  and  liver  torn  out. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  fury  and  savage  shedding  of  blood,  no  chil 
dren  or  servants  of  the  Hudson's  Hay  Company,  or  Roman  Catholics, 
or  such  as  professed  friendship  for  that  faith,  were  harmed  in  the 
least.  Finlay,  a  half-breed  of  the  company's,  who  had  formerly  kept 
its  horses,  was  stopping  close  to  the  station,  assisting  and  counsel 
ing  with  the  Indians ;  Joe  Lewis  selected  the  two  Manson  boys  and  a 
half-breed  Spanish  boy  the  Doctor  had  raised,  and  arranged  to  send 
them  to  the  fort.  Whoever  this  Indian  was,  or  wherever  he  was  from, 
he  seems  to  have  understood  and  acted  fully  and  faithfully  his  part  in 
the  u  great  overturn  "  that  he  said,  while  at  Boise,  was  to  take  place 
at  that  station  and  in  the  lower  country.  How  he  came  to  know  there 
was  to  be  any  change  or  overturn  is  yet  a  secret  only  to  be  guessed 
at.  Mr.  McBean  says  he  returned  to  Boise  and  Fort  Hall ;  and  Mr. 
McDonald,  that  he  killed  the  guide  to  a  company  of  United  States 
troops  in  the  mountains,  and  was  himself  shot 


CHAPTER  LVL 

Comments  on  Vicar-General  Brouillet's  arguments  against  the  Whitman  massacre  being 
the  act  of  Catholics. — Joe  Stanfield :  Brouillet's  story  in  his  favor. — Murders  on 
the  second  day. — Deposition  of  Daniel  Young. — More  murders. 

VICAR-GENERAL  BKOUILLET,  in  his  narrative  of  "Protestantism  in 
Oregon,"  says :  "  I  could  admit  that  Joseph  Lewis,  Joseph  Stanjield^ 
and  Nicholas  Finlay,  who  may  have  been  seen  plundering"  (as  proved 
on  the  trial  of  Stanfield),  '•''were  Catholics,  without  injuring  in  the 
least  the  cause  of  Catholicism  ;  because,  as  in  good  reasoning"  (Roman 
Catholic,  of  course),  "  it  is  never  allowed  to  conclude  from  one  particu 
larity  to  another  particularity,  nor  to  a  generality;  in  like  manner,  from, 
the  guilt  of  three  Catholics  it  can  not  be  reasonably  concluded  that  other 
Catholics  are  guilty,  nor,  a  fortiori,  that  all  Catholics  are  guilty  and 
Catholicism  favorable  to  the  guilt." 

No  man,  set  of  men,  or  sect,  not  interested  in  the  result  of  a  measure 
or  a  crime,  will  ever  use  an  argument  like  the  one  we  have  quoted  from 
this  priest.  Dr.  Whitman  and  those  about  his  station  had  been 
slaughtered  in  the  most  brutal  and  cowardly  manner,  by  a  band  of  In 
dians  that  this  priest,  his  bishop,  and  associates,  backed  by  the  consent 
and  influence  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  had  brought  about  through 
the  direct  influence  of  these  three  men :  all  of  whom  knew,  and  con 
sulted  with  the  Indians  as  to  the  commission  of  the  crime.  And  we 
have  the  strongest  reason  to  believe  that  this  priest  and  his  party  were, 
by  their  conversation,  instructions,  and  direct  teachings,  adding  their 
influence  and  approval  to  that  horrid  transaction.  Besides,  when  the 
crime  is  committed,  we  find  this  same  band  of  fur  traders  and  priests 
protecting,  shielding,  advising,  and  assisting  the  murderers  to  the 
utmost  of  their  power  and  influence,  both  in  the  country  and  in  their 
foreign  correspondence.  If  such  facts  do  not  implicate  a  party,  we  ask 
what  will?  The  very  book  from  which  we  are  quoting,  containing  108 
pages,  has  not  a  single  sentence  condemning  the  course  or  crime  of  these 
men,  hut  every  page  contains  some  statement  condemning  Spalding, 
Whitman,  or  some  American  supposed  to  belong  to,  or  in  favor  of,  the 
American  settlements  or  missions. 

But  let  us  return  to  further  particulars  of  this  Whitman  massacre. 
We  have  gathered  up  the  statements  and  facts  on  both  sides  of  this 


STANFIELD   EXCUSED.  473 

question,  and  with  our  own  knowledge,  previous  to  and  since  its  occur 
rence,  we  write  with  assurance,  if  not  with  the  best  judgment  in  select 
ing  the  facts  and  evidence  to  place  the  truth  before  the  public. 

We  were  in  the  midst  of  describing  that  horrible  scene  of  savage 
blood  and  carnage,  when  we  stopped  for  a  moment  to  inquire  after  the 
character  of  three  of  the  prominent  actors,  in  fact,  the  leaders  in  the 
tragedy. 

Brouillet  tells  us  (on  page  89  of  his  narrative,  page  56  of  Ross 
Browne)  in  extenuation  of  the  guilt  of  Stanfield,  that  "the  following 
circumstance,  if  true,  speaks  very  highly  in  his  favor,  and  shows  that  if 
he  has  at  any  time  forgotten  the  good  principles  he  had  received  in  his 
infancy,  once,  at  least,  those  principles  prompted  him  to  an  heroic 
action.  It  was  on  the  morning  of  the  day  that  followed  the  massacre. 
There  were  several  Indians  scattered  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  mis 
sion  buildings,  but  especially  a  crowd  of  Indian  women  was  standing 
near  the  door  of  the  house  in  which  all  the  white  women  and  children 
were  living.  Stanfield,  being  then  at  a  short  distance  from  the  house, 
Tilokaikt,  the  chief  of  the  place,  came  up  and  asked  him  if  he  had  some 
thing  in  the  house.  '  Yes,'  said  Stanfield,  '  I  have  all  my  things  there.' 
1  Take  them  away,'  said  the  Indian  to  him.  '  Why  should  I  take 
them  away  ?  they  are  well  there/  '  Take  them  off,'  he  insisted,  a  sec 
ond  time.  '  But  I  have  not  only  my  things  there ;  I  have  also  my  wife 
and  children.'  '  Yes,'  replied  Tilokaikt,  who  appeared  a  little  surprised, 
4  you  have  a  wife  and  children  in  the  house !  Will  you  take  them  off?' 
4  No,'  replied  Stanfield,  '  I  will  not  take  them  away,  and  I  will  go  and 
stay  myself  in  the  house.  I  see  that  you  have  bad  designs;  you  intend 
to  kill  the  women  and  children ;  well,  you  will  kill  me  with  them.  Are 
you  not  ashamed  ?  Are  you  not  satisfied  with  what  you  have  done  ? 
Do  you  want  still  to  kill  poor  innocent  creatures  that  have  never  done 
you  any  harm  r"  '  I  am  ashamed,'  replied  Tilokaikt,  after  a  moment's 
hesitation.  '  It  is  true,  those  women  and  children  do  not  deserve  death  ; 
they  did  not  harm  us ;  they  shall  not  die.'  And,  turning  to  the  Indian 
women  who  were  standing  near  the  door  of  the  house  waiting  with  a 
visible  impatience  for  the  order  to  enter  and  slaughter  the  people  in 
side,  he  ordered  them  to  go  off.  The  Indian  women  then  became 
enraged,  and,  showing  them  the  knives  that  they  took  from  beneath 
their  blankets,  they  insulted  him  in  many  different  ways,  calling  him  a 
coward,  a  woman  who  would  consent  to  be  governed  by  a  Frenchman  • 
and  they  retired,  apparently  in  great  anger  for  not  having  been  allowed 
to  imbrue  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  new  victims.  The  above  circum 
stance  was  related  at  Fort  Wallawalla  to  Mr.  Ogden,  by  Stantield  him 
self,  under  great  emotion,  and  in  presence  of  the  widows,  none  of  whom 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

contradicted  him.  An  action  of  that  nature,  if  it  took  place,  would  be, 
of  itself,  sufficient  to  redeem  a  great  many  faults" 

We  do  not  wish  to  question  any  good  act  this  Frenchman  may  have 
done ;  but  the  guilt  of  knowing  that  crime  was  to  be  committed,  and 
that  the  Americans  were  to  be  killed  around  him  like  the  ox  he  had 
brought  to  the  slaughter,  which  he  knew  was  to  be  the  signal  for  its 
commencement;  and  the  manner  he  and  his  two  associates  conducted 
themselves  on  the  ground;  the  influence  he  had  to  stop  the  massacre  at 
any  time,  and  his  robbing  the  widows  and  orphans  in  the  midst  of  the 
slaughter; — these  make  up  a  complication  of  crime  that  none  but  the 
vilest  will  attempt  to  excuse. 

On  the  30th  of  November,  Mr.  Kimball  and  Mr.  Young,  a  young 
man  from  the  saw-mill,  were  killed.  Mr.  Kimball,  in  attempting  to  go 
from  his  concealment  in  the  chamber  for  water  for  himself  and  the  sick 
children,  was  shot  by  a  young  Indian,  who  claimed  his  eldest  daughter 
for  a  wife  as  his  lawful  pay  for  killing  her  father. 

We  will  now  give  an  original  deposition  which  explains  the  killing 
of  Mr.  Young,  and  also  of  two  other  young  men,  who  escaped  the  first 
and  second,  and  became  victims  of  the  third  more  brutal  slaughter. 

Deposition  of  Mr.  Daniel  Young  relative  to  the  Wailatpu  Massacre. 

QUESTION. — When,  and  in  what  manner,  did  you  learn  of  the  mas 
sacre  ? 

ANSWER. — I  was  residing  with  my  father's  family  at  Dr.  Whit 
man's  saw-mill,  about  twenty  miles  from  Wailatpu,  where  we  had  gone 
for  the  winter.  My  brother,  a  young  man  about  twenty-four  years  of 
age,  and  about  two  years  older  than  myself,  had  gone  down  to  the 
station,  the  Tuesday  before,  with  a  load  of  lumber,  and  for  provisions, 
and  was  expecting  to  return  about  the  last  of  the  week.  Joseph 
Smith  and  family  were  also  living  at  the  saw-mill,  except  his  oldest 
daughter,  who  was  at  the  station.  His  family  was  out  of  flour  and 
meat,  and  ours  was  now  out  of  meat.  On  Saturday  evening,  he  pro 
posed  to  me  to  go  down  the  next  day  for  provisions.  I  did  not  wish  to 
go  down  ;  told  him  if  he  wanted  provisions  he  could  go.  He  said  if  he 
had  a  horse  he  would  go.  We  offered  him  a  horse.  He  still  urged  me  to 
go,  as  there  was  no  one,  he  said,  to  stay  with  his  family.  I  went  down  on 
horseback  on  the  Sabbath,  being  the  next  Sabbath  after  the  massacre. 
I  did  not  go  to  the  place  till  about  an  hour  after  dark,  and  learned 
nothing  of  the  massacre  till  after  I  had  got  into  the  house.  In  the  room 
where  I  expected  to  find  my  brother,  I  found  them  eating  supper, 
with  several  Indians  in  the  room.  At  the  table  was  Mrs.  Hays,  and 
Joseph  Stanfield,  and  Mrs.  Hall,  with  the  remnant  of  her  family. 


STANFIELD'S  PRETENDED  MARRIAGE.  475 

About  a  couple  of  minutes  after  I  went  in,  Joseph  Stanfield  left  the  table 
and  went  out  of  the  house  (this  was  some  time  previous  to  the  rest 
leaving  the  table),  and  was  gone  for  about  three  hours,  I  knew  not 
where  ;  but  after  he  returned,  he  said  he  had  started  to  go  to  Nicholas 
Finlay's,  a  half-breed's  lodge,  but  had  got  lost.  Nicholas  had  come  in 
about  half  an  hour  before  Stanfield  returned.  In  the  mean  time  I  had 
learned  from  the  Indian  Beardy,  through  Eliza  Spalding  (his  inter 
preter),  of  the  massacre.  This  was  in  short  sentences  and  much  con 
fused.  Beardy  said,  however,  that  the  Doctor  was  his  friend,  and  he 
did  not  know  of  it  until  a  good  many  had  been  killed,  and  he  was 
sorry  for  what  had  taken  place ;  he  said  the  Indians  said  the  Doctor 
was  poisoning  them,  and  that  was  the  reason  they  did  it,  but  he  (Beardy) 
did  not  believe  it.  That  he  was  there  to  protect  the  women  and  children, 
and  no  more  should  be  killed.  During  the  evening  I  also  learned  of 
the  number  that  had  been  killed,  and  of  those  who  had  escaped  from 
the  place ;  but  it  was  not  known  what  had  become  of  them. 

I  was  informed  by  Stanfield  that  my  brother  had  met  an  Indian  who 
had  told  him  to  go  back  and  stay  for  a  week,  but  another  Indian  told 
him  he  could  safely  go  on  for  provisions,  and  that  he  would  go  with  him. 
He  went  on  to  within  half  a  mile  of  the  mission.  The  Indians  were 
said  to  have  gone  thus  far  with  him.  Stanfield  said  he  there  found 
him  dead,  shot  through  the  head  near  one  eye,  and  there  he  buried  him. 
Stanfield  said  also  that  evening  that  the  Doctor  was  poisoning  the 
Indians,  which  had  caused  the  massacre ;  that  Joe  Lewis  had  heard 
from  an  adjoining  room  one  night  the  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Whitman  talk 
ing  of  poisoning  them,  and  that  the  Doctor  had  said  it  was  best  to 
destroy  them  by  degrees,  but  that  Mrs.  Whitman  said  it  was  best  to 
do  it  at  once,  and  they  would  be  rid  of  them,  and  have  all  their  land 
and  horses  as  their  own ;  and  that  he  (Joe  Lewis)  had  told  the  Indians 
this  before  the  massacre. 

Stanfield  also  asked  me  if  I  had  heard  of  his  being  married.  I  told 
him  I  had  heard  from  my  brother  that  he  was  going  to  take  Mrs. 
Hays  for  a  wife.  He  said :  "  We  are  married,  but  have  not  yet  slept 
together."  I  said :  "  Yes,  I  understand,  you  pretend  to  be  married." 
He  said :  "  We  are  married ;  that  is  enough."  I  thought  it  strange 
why  he  was  saved  unless  he  was  a  Catholic,  and  during  the  evening 
took  an  occasion,  when  I  thought  he  would  not  suspect  my  object,  to 
ask  Stanfield  whether  he  was  a  Catholic  ?  He  said,  "  I  pass  for  one.11 

I  slept  with  Stanfield  that  night ;  did  not  retire  till  late.  Next 
morning,  Crockett  Bewley,  a  young  man  about  twenty-one  or  twenty- 
two,  I  should  think,  who  was  sick  at  the  time  of  the  first  massacre, 
and  whose  clothes  had  been  stolen  (by  Stanfield),  came  into  the  room 


476  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

wrapped  in  a  blanket  or  a  quilt.  Bewley  seemed  to  speak  of  the 
Doctor's  poisoning  the  Indians  as  something  commonly  reported 
among  them  as  the  cause  of  the  massacre,  but  said  he  did  not  believe 
any  thing  of  it,  but  he  believed  Joe  Lewis  was  one  of  the  leaders,  and 
the  Catholic  priests  were  the  cause  of  it.  Stanfield  replied,  "  You  need 
not  believe  any  such  thing,  and  you  had  better  not  let  the  Indians 
hear  you  say  that"  and  spoke  in  a  voice  as  though  he  was  somewhat 
angry.  Soon  after  this,  Bewley  left  the  room ;  Stanfield  turned  to  me 
and  said :  "  He  had  better  be  careful  liow  he  talks  •  if  the  Indians 
get  hold  of  it  the  Catholics  may  hear  of  it."  As  soon  as  I  could  do  it 
without  being  suspected,  I  sought  an  opportunity  to  caution  Bewley 
about  the  danger  I  thought  he  was  running  in  speaking  thus  in  the 
presence  of  Stanfield,  and  asked  him  if  he  did  not  know  of  Stanfield 
being  a  Catholic?  He  said  he  did  not.  I  told  him  he  might  have 
known  it  from  the  fact  of  most  French  being  Catholics.  He  replied  he 
did  not  know  of  the  French  being  Catholics  more  than  any  other 
people.  I  told  him  to  be  cautious  hereafter  how  he  spoke,  and  he  said 
he  would. 

Soon  after  the  conversation  with  Bewley,  I  told  Stanfield  I  must 
return  home ;  he  said  I  must  not,  the  Indian  chiefs  would  be  there  after 
a  while  and  would  tell  me  what  I  must  do ;  said  he  did  not  think  I 
could  get  off  till  the  next  day. 

We  now  commenced  making  a  coffin  for  one  of  the  Sager  children 
that  had  died  the  night  before.  Soon  after,  the  chief  Tilokaikt  came. 
He  told  me  I  could  not  go  back  till  the  next  day,  that  he  would  then 
send  two  Indians  back  with  me.  I  told  Stanfield,  in  the  chiefs  pres 
ence,  that  I  had  told  my  folks  I  should  be  back  on  Monday  if  I  came 
at  all.  Stanfield  told  me  in  reply,  that  the  chief  says,  "  Then  you  may 
go ;"  Stanfield  also  said,  "  The  chief  says  tell  them  all  to  come  down 
'and  bring  every  thing  down  that  is  up  there ;  we  want  them  to  come 
down  and  take  care  of  the  families  and  tend  the  mill.  Tell  them, '  Don't 
undertake  to  run  away,  if  you  do,  you  will  be  sure  to  be  killed  /'  not  be 
afraid,  for  they  shall  not  be  hurt." 

The  chief  had  now  done  talking.  Stanfield  now  told  me  to  caution 
them,  our  people,  at  the  saw-mill,  as  to  what  they  should  say  •  if  they 
said  any  thing  on  the  subject,  "  say  that  the  Doctor  was  a  bad  man, 
and  was  poisoning  the  Indians."  He  had  also  before  that  told  me  the 
same.  I  got  a  piece  of  meat  and  asked  for  some  salt,  but  he  said  there 
was  none  about  the  house;  afterward  I  found  this  was  not  the  case.  I 
then  returned  home,  and  informed  our  people  as  to  what  had  taken  place, 
and  my  father's  first  reply  was,  "  The  Catholics  are  at  the  bottom  of  it." 
Mr.  Smith  admitted  it,  but  said,  immediately,  we  must  all  become  Cath- 


SMITH'S   DAUGHTER   GIVEN  TO  THE  INDIANS.  477 

olics  for  our  safety,  and  before  we  left  the  saw-mill,  and  afterward,  he 
said  he  believed  the  Doctor  was  poisoning,  and  believed  it  from  what 
Joe  Stanfield  had  told  him  before  about  the  Doctor's  misusing  the  half- 

O 

breeds  and  children  at  his  mission.  The  next  day,  Tuesday,  we  went 
down  to  the  mission,  and  arrived  after  dark  ;  found  the  young  men, 
Bewley  and  Amos  Sales,  who  were  sick  at  the  time  of  the  first  massacre, 
were  botli  killed,  and  their  bodies  were  lying  outside  of  the  door  near 
the  house  where  they  lay  during  the  night,  and  Stanfield  said  he  could 
not  bury  them  until  he  got  the  permission  of  the  Indians.  The  next 
day  we  helped  to  bury  them. 

Here  I  would  say  that  the  two  Indians  the  chief  wished  to  send  with 
me,  as  he  said,  to  see  us  safe  down,  as  Stanfield  interpreted  to  me  at  the 
time,  were  the  chief's  sons,  and  he  wished  me  to  wait  because  Edward, 
Tilokaikt's  son,  had  gone  to  the  Umatilla  to  the  great  chief,  to  see 
what  to  do  with  the  two  young  men  who  were  sick.  This,  Stanfield 
told  me,  was  the  business  which  Edward  Tilokaikt  had  gone  for,  and 
he  would  not  get  back  so  as  to  go  with  me  that  day.  Three  Indians,  how 
ever,  arrived  within  an  hour  after  I  got  to  the  saw-mill,  viz.,  Clark 
Tilokaikt,  Stikas  and  one  whose  name  I  never  knew,  and  came  down 
apart  of  the  way  with  us  next  day.  I  learned  from  Mrs.  Canfield  and 
her  daughter,  that  this  same  Edward  Tilokaikt,  after  he  returned  from 
the  Umatilla,  gave  the  first  blow  with  his  whip,  and  broke  and  run  out 
of  doors,  when  other  Indians  finished  the  slaughter  of  the  sick  men. 
While  at  the  station,  Joseph  Smith  threatened  me  with  the  Indians  if  I 
did  not  obey  him.  I  felt  our  condition  as  bad  and  very  dangerous  from 
the  Indians,  and  feared  that  Smith  would  join  them.  He  sometimes 
talked  of  going  on  to  the  Umatilla  to  live  with  them.  His  daughter 
was  taken  by  the  chiefs  sons  (first  Clark,  and  in  the  second  place,  Ed 
ward)  for  a  wife.  I  told  Mr.  Smith,  were  I  a  father,  I  would  never 
suffer  that,  so  long  as  I  had  power  to  use  an  arm ;  his  reply  was,  "  You 
don't  know  what  you  would  do  ;  I  would  not  dare  to  say  a  word  if  they 
should  take  my  own  wife."  I  continued  to  regard  our  situation  as 
exceedingly  dangerous  till  we  got  out  of  the  country. 

After  we  had  arrived  at  Wallawalla,  I  said,  in  the  presence  of  Mr. 
McBean,  that  I  supposed  there  were  present  some  of  the  Indians  who 
had  killed  my  brother,  and  if  I  knew  them  I  would  kill  them  yet. 
Mr.  McBean  said, "  Take  care  what  you  say,  the  very  walls  have  ears" 
He  was  very  anxious  to  get  us  safe  to  the  Wallamet. 

Q. — Would  you  suppose  one  who  was  acquainted  at  that  place  liable 
to  get  lost  in  going  that  evening  to  Finlay's  lodge  ? 

A. — I  would  not.  It  was  in  sight  and  a  plain  path  to  it,  and  was 
not  more  than  twenty-five  yards  off. 


4.78  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Q. — When  did  you  learn  from  your  brother  that  Stanfield  was  going 
to  take  Mrs.  Hays  as  a  wife  ? 

A. — Some  two  or  more  weeks  before  the  massacre,  something  was 
said  as  to  Mr.  Hoffman  taking  Mrs.  Hays.  My  brother  says,  "  No,  I 
heard  Joe  Stanfield  say  that  he  was  going  to  take  her  as  a  wife." 

Q.  —Did  your  brother  appear  to  believe  that  this  was  about  to  take 
place  ? 

A. — He  did,  and  my  brother  talked  about  it, — made  us  believe  it  was 
going  to  take  place. 

Q. — What  opportunity  had  your  brother  to  know  about  this,  more 
than  yourself? 

A. — He  boarded  at  the  station,  and  was  some  of  the  time  teaming  from 
the  saw-mill,  and  Mrs.  Hays  cooked  for  him  and  several  others  of  the 
Doctor's  hands,  among  whom  was  Stanfield. 

Q. — Why  did  you  think  Stanfield  was  a  Catholic,  as  a  reason  for  his 
being  saved  ? 

A. — Because  I  heard  Dr.  Whitman  say  at  the  mill,  that  the  Catho 
lics  were  evidently  trying  to  set  the  Indians  upon  him,  but  he  thought 
he  could  keep  it  down  for  another  year,  when  he  would  be  safe.  I  sup 
posed  he  expected  safety  from  the  government  being  extended  over 
the  country. 

Q. — How  did  Stanfield  seem  to  know  that  the  chief  would  be  there 
after  a  while,  and  would  tell  you  what  you  might  do  as  to  going  back 
to  the  saw-mill  ? 

A. — I  did  not  know. 

Q. — Why  did  you  tell  your  people  that  you  would  be  back  on  Mon 
day,  if  at  all  ? 

A. — Because  we  were  in  an  Indian  country,  and  I  remembered  what 
I  had  heard  the  Doctor  say  at  the  Umatilla,  and  my  brother  had  not 
returned  as  expected. 

Q. — Had  you  any  means  of  knowing  what  "great  chief"  at  the 
Umatilla,  Tilokaikt  spoke  of,  where  his  son  Edward  had  gone  to  learn 
what  to  do  with  the  sick  young  men  ? 

A. — I  had  not. 

Q.— Did  you  know  at  that  time  that  the  bishop  was  said  to  be  at 
Umatilla  ? 

A.— Yes. 

Q.— Did  you  form  in  your  own  mind,  at  that  time,  any  opinion  as  to 
whom  Edward  had  gone  to  consult  ? 

A.— I  thought  the  term  "great  chief''  might  have  been  put  in  to 
deceive  me,  as  Stanfield  had  told  me,  the  evening  before,  that  the  Catho 
lics  were  going  to  establish  a  mission  right  away  at  that  place,  and  that 


D.   YOUNG'S  STATEMENT.  4.79 

they  would  protect  the  women  and  children,  and  I  thought  it  might  be 
the  Catholics  he  was  consulting,  or  it  might  be  some  great  Indian  chief* 
This  talk  of  establishing  a  station  there  continued  for  more  than  a  week 
after  we  got  down  to  the  station.  After  I  found  Bewley  and  Sales  were 
killed,  I  seemed  to  forget  much  until  even  after  I  had  got  down,  and 
even  to  the  plains,  when  the  facts  again  came  more  clearly  to  my  recol 
lection,  and  I  spoke  of  them  freely  to  my  parents  and  to  others. 

(Signed,)  DANIEL  YOUNG. 

0 

Sworn  and  subscribed  to,  before  me,  this  20th  day  of  January,  A.  D. 
1849,  in  Tualatin  Plains,  Oregon  Territory. 

G.  W.  COFFINBUKY,  Justice  of  the  Peace. 


CHAPTER   LVII. 

How  the  country  was  saved  to  the  United  States. — Article  from  the  New  York  Evening 
Post. — Ingratitude  of  the  American  Board. — Deposition  of  Elam  Young. — Young 
girls  taken  for  Indian  wives. — Statement  of  Miss  LorindatBewley. — Sager,  Bewley, 
and  Sales  killed. 

IN  taking  up  our  morning  Oregonian  of  November  16,  1866,  our  eye 
lit  upon  the  following  article  from  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  which 
we  feel  assured  the  reader  will  not  regret  to  find  upon  these  pages,  and 
which  will  explain  the  desperate  efforts  made  to  secure  this  country  to 
the  United  States  by  Dr.  Whitman,  the  details  of  whose  death  we  are 
now  giving  from  the  depositions  of  parties  upon  the  ground,  who  were 
eye-witnesses  and  fellow-sufferers  at  the  fall  of  that  good  and  noble 
man  whose  labors  and  sacrifices  his  countrymen  are  at  this  late  day 
only  beginning  to  appreciate.  We  ask  in  astonishment  :  Has  the 
American  Board  at  last  opened  its  ears,  and  allowed  a  statement  of 
that  noble  martyr's  efforts  to  save  Oregon  to  his  country  to  be  made 
upon  its  record  ?  It  has  !  it  has !  and  here  it  is  : — 

"  We  presume  it  is  not  generally  known  to  our  citizens  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  nor  to  many  people  in  the  Atlantic  States,  how  near  we  came  to 
losing,  through  executive  incompetence,  our  just  title  to  the  whole 
immense  region  lying  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Neither  has  due 
honor  been  accorded  to  the  brave  and  patriotic  man  through  whose 
herculean  exertions  this  great  loss  and  sacrifice  was  prevented. 

"  The  facts  were  briefly  and  freshly  brought  out  during  the  recent 
meeting  at  Pittsburg  of  the  '  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions,'  in  the  course  of  an  elaborate  paper  read  by  Mr. 
Treat,  one  of  the  secretaries  of  the  Board,  on  the  '  Incidental  Results  of 
Missions.' 

"In  the  year  1836  the  American  Board  undertook  to  establish  a  mis 
sion  among  the  Indians  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Two  mission 
aries,  Rev.  Mr.  Spalding  and  Dr.  Whitman,  with  their  wives, — the 
first  white  women  who  had  ever  made  that  perilous  journey, — passed 
over  the  mountains  with  incredible  toil,  to  reach  Oregon,  the  field  of 
their  labor.  After  remaining  there  for  a  few  years,  Dr.  Whitman  began 
to  understand  the  object  of  the  misrepresentations  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company.  He  saw,  contrary  to  the  reiterated  public  statements 
of  that  company — 


DR.   WHITMAN'S  EFFORTS  TO   SAVE  OREGON.  481 

"  1.  That  the  land  was  rich  in  minerals. 

"  2.  That  emigrants  could  cross  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  wagons,  a 
feat  which  they  had  constantly  asserted  to  be  impossible. 

"  3.  That  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  planning  to  secure  the 
sole  occupancy  of  the  whole  of  that  country,  by  obtaining  a  surrender 
of  the  American  title  into  the  hands  of  the  British  government. 

"  Seeing  these  things,  but  not  knowing  how  very  near  the  British 
scheme  was  to  its  accomplishment,  Dr.  Whitman  resolved,  at  every 
hazard,  to  prevent  its  consummation.  He  undertook,  in  1842,  to  make 
a  journey  on  horseback  to  Washington,  to  lay  the  whole  matter  clearly 
before  our  government  by  personal  representations.  Being  a  man  of 
great  physical  strength  and  an  iron  constitution,  he  accomplished  the 
Long  and  perilous  journey,  and  reached  Washington  in  safety.  The 
remainder  of  the  story  we  will  relate  in  the  language  of  the  Boston 
Congregationalist :  Reaching  Washington,  he  sought  an  interview 
with  President  Tyler  and  Daniel  Webster,  then  Secretary  of  State,  and 
unfolded  to  them  distinctly  what  was  going  on.  Here  he  learned  that  a 
treaty  was  almost  ready  to  be  signed,  in  which  all  this  northwestern 
territory  was  to  be  given  up  to  England,  and  we  were  to  have  in  com 
pensation  greater  facilities  in  catching  fish.  Dr.  Whitman  labored  to 
convince  Mr.  Webster  that  he  was  the  victim  of  false  representations 
with  regard  to  the  character  of  the  region,  and  told  him  that  he  intend 
ed  to  return  to  Oregon  with  a  train  of  emigrants.  Mr.  Webster,  look 
ing  him  full  in  the  eye.  asked  him  if  he  would  pledge  himself  to  conduct 
a  train  of  emigrants  there  in  wagons.  He  promised  that  he  would. 
Then,  said  Mr.  Webster,  this  treaty  shall  be  suppressed.  Dr.  Whit 
man,  in  coming  on,  had  fixed  upon  certain  rallying-points  where 
emigrants  might  assemble  to  accompany  him  on  his  return.  He  found 
nearly  one  thousand  ready  for  the  journey.  After  long  travel,  they 
reached  Fort  Hall,  a  British  military  station,  and  the  commandant 
undertook  to  frighten  the  emigrants  by  telling  them  that  it  was  not 
possible  for  them  to  go  through  with  wagons ;  but  Dr.  Whitman  re 
assured  them,  and  led  them  through  to  the  Columbia,  and  the  days  of 
the  supremacy  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  over  Oregon  were 
numbered." 

Twenty-four  years  after  that  noble,  devoted,  faithful  servant  and 
missionary  of  theirs  had  received  a  cold  reproof,  after  enduring  one  of 
the  severest  and  most  trying  journeys  of  several  thousand  miles,  his 
Board  at  home,  and  unreasonably  cautious  associates  in  Oregon,  have 
consented  to  acknowledge  that  they  owe  to  him  a  debt  of  respect  for 
doing,  without  their  consent  or  approval  at  the  time,  a  noble,  patriotic, 
and  unselfish  act  for  his  country. 

31 


482  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

And  how  shall  we  regard  the  cold  indifference  they  have  manifested 
to  the  present  day,  in  regard  to  the  infamous  manner  in  which  his  life, 
and  the  lives  of  his  wife  and  countrymen  were  taken,  and  the  continued 
slanders  heaped  upon  their  names?  Have  they  asked  for,  or  even 
attempted  an  explanation,  or  a  refutation  of  those  slanders  ?  Their 
half-century  volume  speaks  a  language  not  to  be  mistaken.  Mr. 
Spalding,  his  first  and  most  zealous  associate,  attempted  to  bring  the 
facts  before  the  world,  but  the  caution  of  those  who  would  whitewash 
his  (Dr.  Whitman's)  sepulcher  induced  Mr.  Spalding  to  give  up  in 
despair, — a  poor  broken-down  wreck,  caused  by  the  frightful  ending 
of  his  fellow-associates,  and  of  his  own  missionary  labors. 

Is  this  severe,  kind  reader,  upon  the  Board  and  a  portion  of  Dr. 
Whitman's  associates  ?  We  intend  to  tell  the  truth  if  it  is,  as  we  are 
endeavoring  to  get  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  as  few  mistakes  as 
possible  in  these  pages.  Therefore  we  will  copy  another  deposition 
relative  to  this  massacre. 

Deposition  of  Mr.  Elam  Young. 

I  met  Dr.  Whitman  on  the  Umatilla,  about  the  1st  of  October, 
1847.  He  engaged  me  to  build  a  mill  for  him  at  his  mission.  As  the 
lumber  was  not  handy  at  the  station,  I  moved  up  to  the  saw-mill  to  do 
a  part  of  the  work  there. 

Some  time  in  November,  my  son  James,  who  was  teaming  for  the 
Doctor,  went  from  the  saw-mill  with  a  load  of  lumber  for  the  mission 
station,  and  was  to  return  with  provisions  for  us.  This  was  on  Tuesday 
after  the  murder.  Shortly  after  he  had  gone  away,  Mr.  Smith,  who 
was  also  at  the  saw-mill,  appeared  to  be  very  uneasy ;  stated  repeatedly 
that  he  was  sure  something  had  happened  to  him ;  said  he  had  a  con 
stant  foreboding  of  some  evil ;  stated  that  Dr.  Whitman  was  abusing 
the  children  at  the  mission,  as  he  had  understood  by  Stanfield ;  fre 
quently  spoke  against  Dr.  Whitman.  The  next  Sunday,  beginning  to 
feel  uneasy,  I  sent  my  second  son  Daniel  down  to  the  station,  who 
returned  on  Monday  and  brought  the  news  of  the  massacre.  It  instantly 
struck  my  mind  that  the  Catholic  priests  had  been  the  cause  of  the 
whole  of  it.  This  conviction  was  caused  by  repeated  conversations 
with  Dr.  Whitman,  together  with  my  knowledge  of  the  principles  of 
the  Jesuits.  Mr.  Smith  observed  at  the  same  time  that  we  must  all  be 
Jesuits  for  the  time  being.  Soon  after  Daniel  returned,  three  Indians 
came  up  and  told  us  we  must  go  down  to  the  station,  which  we  accord 
ingly  did  the  next  day.  When  we  got  there  it  was  after  night ;  we 
found  that  Crockett  Bewley  and  Amos  Sales  had  both  been  killed  that 
day.  Tlu'  women  told  us  that  they  had  told  the  Indians,  before  we 


RECEPTION  AT  THE   FORT.  483 

came  down,  that  we  were  English,  and  we  must  not  contradict  it. 
The  Indians  soon  began  to  question  whether  I  was  English.  I  told 
them  I  was  of  English  parents,  but  born  in  the  United  States. 

A  few  days  after  we  got  there  two  young  women  were  taken  as 
wives  for  the  Indians,  which  I  opposed,  and  was  threatened  by  Mr.  Smith^ 
who  was  very  anxious  that  it  should  take  place,  and  that  other  little 
girls  should  be  given  up  for  wives.  Was  employed  while  there  in 
making  coffins  and  grinding  for  the  Indians. 

While  there,  Miss  Bewley  was  taken  off  to  the  Umatilla.  Tried  to 
comfort  her  as  much  as  I  could,  believing  she  would  be  safer  there  at  the 
Catholic  station  than  ivhere  we  were.  First  ten  days  we  were  constantly 
told  that  the  Catholics  were  coming  there  to  establish  a  mission. 
Heard  that  Mr.  Ogderi  had  come  up  to  Wallawalla  to  rescue  us  from 
the  Indians.  Went  to  grinding  and  preparing  provisions  for  our  jour 
ney.  Smith  and  Stanfield,  who  appeared  to  be  very  friendly  with  each 
other,  had  the  management  of  the  teams  and  loading,  took  the  best 
teams  and  lightest  loads,  gave  us  the  poorest  teams  and  heaviest  loads. 
On  the  way  to  Wallawalla  they  drove  off  and  left  us.  The  hind 
most  teams  had  to  double  in  the  bad  places.  Reached  the  fort  per 
haps  half  an  hour  after  Smith  and  Stanfield  had ;  met  Smith  at  the 
gate,  who  says :  "  Well,  you  have  got  along  ?"  "  Yes."  "  It  is  well  you 
did,  for  the  Indians  found  out  that  you  were  not  an  Englishman,  and 
were  determined  to  have  your  scalp"  I  asked  him,  " How  do  you 
know  this?"  to  which  he  made  no  reply.  Went  into  the  fort  and 
met  Mr.  McBean  and  the  priest ;  supposed  they  would  all  rejoice  at 
our  escape,  but  their  manner  was  very  cold  and  distant.  But  Mr. 
Ogden  greeted  us  cordially.  The  next  day  the  Indians  came  into  the 
fort  in  considerable  numbers,  and  their  actions  were  suspicious,  and 
Mr.  McBean  seemed  to  interest  himself  very  much  in  our  belalf,  and 
told  its  to  be  very  quiet  and  to  keep  in  our  own  rooms,  and  be  careful 
what  we  said,  as  the  very  walls  had  ears.  [If  this  does  not  show  the 
sneaking  dog,  what  does  ?  Ogden  is  apparently  all  friendship,  and 
McBean  is  all  caution  to  the  captives.] 

We  arrived  on  Monday,  and  Mr.  Spalling  on  Saturday  after,  and 
the  next  day  all  took  boat  for  the  lower  country. 

Q. — Did  your  son  give  you  any  caution  as  to  what  to  say  when  you 
reached  the  station. 

A. — He  said  Stanfield  said  we  must  say  the  Doctor  poisoned  the 
Indians. 

Q. — What  did  you  learn  about  Mr.  Rogers  as  having  made  a  con 
fession. 

A. — Stanfield  said  that  Mr.  Rogers  had  made  a  confession  that  the 


484:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

Doctor  had  poisoned  the  Indians.  I  replied,  "Who  knows  this  ?"  He  said 
Mrs.  Hays  and  Mrs.  Hall  heard  it.  I  afterward  asked  Mrs.  Hays  if 
she  did  hear  it.  She  replied,  "  We  must  say  so  now"  I  afterward,  at 
the  station,  told  Stanfield  he  had  better  not  mention  that  to  Ameri 
cans,  for  there  was  not  one  from  Maine  to  Georgia  that  would  believe 
it.  He  replied,  "  We  must  say  so."  I  told  him  I  never  would. 

Q. — What  conversation  with  the  Doctor  led  you  to  believe  the 
Catholics  were  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole  of  it  ? 

A. — That  some  years  before  (1841)  he  had  had  difficulty  with  the 
Indians,  and  he  had  found  out  satisfactorily  where  it  came  from,  by 
charging  the  Indians  of  having  been  made  jealous  of  a  certain  man. 
I  do  not  recollect  the  name,  but  I  think  he  said  he  was  from  Canada, 
and  the  Indians  acknowledged  it.  [The  difficulty  here  spoken  of  was 
about  the  horses  given  as  a  present  to  Rev.  Jason  Lee,  on  his  way  to 
Wallamet.  The  Indians  had  been  told  by  the  company's  interpreter, 
old  Toupin,  that  he  had  as  good  as  stolen  their  horses,  as  he  made  them 
no  presents  in  return,  and  they  were  encouraged  to  make  that  a  cause 
of  difficulty  with  Dr.  Whitman.]  At  that  time  they  had  knocked  off 
his  hat,  etc.,  but  other  Indians  would  obey  him  and  pick  it  up,  and  so 
long  as  they  would  obey,  he  was  satisfied  of  his  safety ;  but  this  had 
long  since  passed  off.  [The  writer  was  present,  and  saw  the  whole  per 
formance  here  alluded  to,  the  particulars  of  winch  are  given  elsewhere]. 
And  they  were  never  in  a  better  state  until  of  late,  when  a  body  of 
priests  and  Jesuits  had  come  in,  and  were  constantly  saying  in  their 
ears  that  this  sickness  came  on  them  by  the  Americans;  that  the 
Americans  were  a  very  bad  people,  that  the  Good  Being  had  sent  on 
them  as  a  punishment. 

Q. — Why  did  Mr.  Smith  appear  anxious  to  have  the  young  women 
given  to  the  Indians  ? 

A. — I  do  not  know,  unless  to  appease  them,  and  get  their  affec 
tion. 

Q. — Did  the  Doctor  appear  to  wish  to  remain,  against  the  wish  of  a 
majority  of  the  Indians? 

A. — I  heard  him  say  repeatedly,  if  the  Indians  wished  him  to  leave 
he  would,  but  a  large  majority  said  he  must  not,  and  he  thought  the 
times  would  soon  change.  I  understood  him  to  expect  a  change  from 
the  extension  of  government. 

Q. — Did  your  son  Daniel  say  any  thing,  before  you  moved  from  the 
saw-mill,  of  having  cautioned  C.  Bewley  for  speaking  unadvisedly 
before  Joe  Stanfield  ? 

A. — Yes,  he  gave  that ;  that  amounts  to  the  same  as  he  has  given  in 
his  statement. 


REMARKS.  485 

Q. — Did  you  have  any  fears,  while  at  the  station,  that  Mr.  Smith  was 
liable,  had  the  circumstances  become  more  dangerous,  to  act  with  the 
Indians  ? 

A. — Certainly  I  did. 

Q. — Did  you  get  any  reason  why  Bewley  and  Sales  were  killed  ? 

A. — Though  I  did  not  get  it  directly  from  them,  the  Indian  account 
was,  the  great  chief  at  the  Umatilla  said  their  disease  would  spread  ; 
but  I  believe  it  was  because  Bewley  had  spoken  before  Stanfield  unad 
visedly. 

(Signed,)  ELAM  YOUNG. 

Sworn  and  subscribed  to  before  me,  this  20th  day  of  January,  1849. 
G.  W.  COFFINBURY,  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

What  shall  we  say  of  these  depositions,  and  the  facts  asserted  under 
the  solemnity  of  an  oath,  the  witnesses  still  living,  with  many  others 
confirming  the  one  fact,  that  Roman  priests  and  Iludsorfs  Bay  men, 
English  and  Frenchmen,  were  all  safe  and  unharmed  in  an  Indian — and 
that  American — territory,  while  American  citizens  were  cut  down  by  sav 
age  hands  without  mercy  ?  Can  we  regard  the  conduct  of  such  men  in 
any  other  light  than  as  enemies  in  peace  ?  Without  the  aid  of  religious 
bigotry  and  the  appeal  to  God  as  sending  judgments  upon  them,  not 
one  of  those  simple-minded  natives  would  ever  have  lifted  a  hand  to 
shed  the  blood  of  their  teachers  or  of  American  citizens.  We  see  how 
faithful  and  persevering  Joe  Lewis,  Finlay,  and  Stanfield  were  in  their 
part,  while  the  bishop  and  his  priests,  and  Sir  James  Douglas,  at 
Vancouver,  were  watching  at  a  distance  to  misrepresent  the  conduct 
of  the  dead,  and  excuse  and  justify  their  own  instruments,  as  in  Mr. 
Douglas's  letters  to  Governor  Abernethy  and  the  Sandwich  Islands; 
and  Vicar-General  Brouillet's  narrative,  with  more  recent  proceedings, 
which  are  given  in  another  chapter. 

We  intended  to  give  in  this  connection  the  account  of  this  tragedy 
as  given  by  Vicar-General  Brouillet,  but  it  accords  so  nearly  with  that 
given  by  Sir  James  Douglas  in  his  Sandwich  Islands  letter  to  Mr.  Castle, 
that  the  impression  is  irresistibly  forced  upon  the  mind  that  the  whole 
account  is  prepared  by  one  and  the  same  person ;  hence  we  will  not 
encumber  our  pages  with  more  than  a  liberal  amount  of  extracts,  suf 
ficient  to  show  the  full  knowledge  of  the  bishop  and  his  priests  of  what 
was  expected  to  take  place  at  the  Whitman  station,  and  the  brutal  and 
inhuman  part  they  took  in  forcing  Miss  Bewley  into  the  arms  of  Five 
Crows,  after  that  Indian  was  humane  enough  to  permit  her  to  return 
to  the  house  of  those,  that  Mr.  Young,  and  all  others  who  were  igno- 


486  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

rant  of  their  vileness,  might  naturally  suppose  would  be  a  place  of 
safety  from  such  treatment.  She  that  was  Miss  Bewley  is  now  dead, 
but  she  has  left  on  record  the  statement  of  her  wrongs.  We  gi  ve  it  a 
permanent  place  in  our  history,  not  to  persecute  or  slander  the  Jesuit 
fraternity  (for  truth  is  no  slander) ,  but  to  warn  Americans  against 
placing  their  daughters  and  sons  under  any  such  teachings  or  in 
fluences. 

Statement  of  Miss  Lorinda  Bewley. 

Q. — What  time  did  the  massacre  commence  ? 

A. — I  think  half-past  one. 

Q. — Who  fled  to  the  chamber  ? 

A. — Mrs.  Hall,  Mrs.  Hays,  Mrs.  Whitman,  Mr.  Kimball,  Mr.  Rogers, — 
the  three  last  wounded, — myself,  Catharine  Sager,  thirteen  years  of  age, 
her  sisters  Elizabeth,  Louisa,  and  Henrietta,  the  three  half-breed  girls, — 
Miss  Bridger,  Mary  Ann,  and  Helen, — last  four  very  sick.  After  we  got 
into  the  chamber  the  Indians  broke  in  the  windows  and  doors,  filled 
the  house  and  broke  down  the  stair-door.  Mr.  Kimball  advised  to 
attempt  the  appearance  of  defense  at  the  stairway.  Mrs.  Whitman 
and  Mr.  Rogers  said,  let  all  prepare  for  death.  I  found  an  old  gun,  and 
it  was  held  over  the  staircase  by  Mr.  Rogers.  They  appeared  cool 
and  deliberate  in  ordering  all  to  prepare  for  death,  when  they  were 
breaking  up  the  house.  The  appearance  of  the  gun  appeared  to  check 
the  Indians  from  coming  up-stairs.  A  few  words  passed  between  Mr. 
Rogers  and  one  of  the  Indians.  Mr.  Rogers  said,  "  The  Indians  wish 
me  to  come  down."  Mrs.  Whitman  objected  at  first ;  some  words  passed 
between  Mrs.  Whitman  and  Mr.  Rogers  about  his  going  down  which  I 
do  not  recollect;  finally  Mrs.  Whitman  took  his  hand  and  said,  "The 
Lord  bless  you ;  go !"  and  he  went  nearly  to  the  bottom  of  the  stairs, 
but  his  head  was  all  the  time  above  the  stairs ;  he  was  not  there  longer 
than  two  or  three  minutes.  A  few  words  passed  between  them,  but  I 
did  not  understand  the  language.  Mrs.  Whitman  said,  "The  Indians 
say  you  have  guns  and  want  to  kill  us."  Mr.  Rogers  says,  "  No,  you 
wish  to  get  us  down  to  kill  us."  This  seemed  to  be  all  they  talked 
about.  Mr.  Rogers  says  to  Mrs.  Whitman,  "  Shall  we  let  them  come 
up  ?"  Mrs.  Whitman  says,  "  Let  one,  Tamsaky,  come  up."  Tamsaky 
came  up  and  shook  hands  with  us  all,  and  spoke  and  advised  us  all  to 
go  down  and- go  over  to  the  other  house,  for  the  young  men  would  burn 
the  house ;  he  led  the  way  down  while  the  Indians  were  hallooing 
wildly  in  the  room  below,  but  when  we  had  got  down,  the  Indians  had 
gone  out  and  were  very  still.  While  we  were  up-stairs  the  Doctor's 
face  had  been  cut  awfully  to  pieces,  but  he  was  yet  breathing.  Mrs. 


MISS   BEWLEY'S  DEPOSITION.  4.37 

Whitman  saw  him  and  said  she  wanted  air ;  they  led  her  to  the  settee 
and  she  lay  down.  She  appeared  to  think  then,  that  we  were  going 
to  be  spared,  and  told  us  to  get  all  the  things  from  the  press  we  needed. 
I  put  a  blanket  I  had  over  her,  and  got  a  sheet  for  myself,  and  we  put 
a  good  many  clothes  from  the  press  on  the  settee ;  Mrs.  Hall  and  Mrs. 
Hays  got  their  arms  full  also.  Mr.  Rogers  was  going  to  take  us  over 
to  the  other  house,  and  then  come  back  for  the  sick  children.  This 
was  Tamsaky's  advice,  as  he  said  the  Indians  were  going  to  burn  the 
house.  It  was  now  getting  dark.  Mr.  Rogers  and  Joe  Lewis  carried 
out  the  settee,  over  the  bodies  of  the  Doctor  and  John  Sager,  which  were 
dreadfully  mangled;  they  passed  through  the  kitchen,  and  through  the 
outside  door  toward  the  end  of  the  house  occupied  as  the  Indian  room. 
Here,  to  our  surpise  and  terror,  the  Indians  were  collected,  with  their 
guns  ready ;  the  children  from  the  school  were  huddled  in  the  corner 
of  the  building.  When  the  settee  had  gone  about  its  length  from 
the  door,  Joe  Lewis  dropped  the  end  he  was  holding  and  the  guns  were 
immediately  fired.  Mr.  Rogers  had  only  time  to  raise  his  hands  and 
say,  "  0  my  God,  save  me,"  and  fell.  I  felt  my  fingers  numb  till  next 
morning,  from  a  ball  that  passed  so  near  as  to  sting  them.  Mrs. 
Whitman  received  two  balls  when  on  the  settee. 

I  could  not  see  what  was  done  at  the  same  time  on  all  sides  of  me. 
On  turning  round  I  saw  Francis  Sager  down  bleeding  and  groaning. 
The  children  said  an  Indian  hauled  him  out  from  among  them  and 
Joe  Lewis  shot  him  with  a  pistol.  Mr.  Rogers  fell  down  by  my  feet 
and  groaned  loud.  All  three  appeared  in  great  agony,  and  groaned 
very  loud.  The  Indian  women  were  carrying  oif  things,  and  the 
Indians  were  shouting  terribly ;  the  Indians  also  started  and  cut  Mrs. 
Whitman's  face  with  their  whips  and  rolled  her  into  the  mud.  [This 
treatment  of  Mrs.  Whitman  will  be  explained  in  the  statement  of 
Stikas,  as  given  from  Mr.  McLane's  journal.]  At  this  I  attempted  to 
escape  to  the  other  house.  One  of  the  Indians  from  Mrs.  Whitman 
caught  me, — I  had  run  about  two  rods, — when  I  screamed  and  he  shook 
his  tomahawk  over  my  head,  and  I  kept  screaming,  not  knowing  that 
he  wanted  me  to  hush ;  then  a  great  many  others  came  round,  and 
pointed  their  guns  and  shook  their  hatchets.  I  finally  discovered  they 
wanted  me  to  be  still,  and  when  I  was  silent,  one  of  them  led  me  by 
the  hand  over  to  the  mansion. 

Q. — Was  Mr.  Rogers  wounded  when  he  started  into  the  house  ? 

A. — Yes ;  shot  through  the  arm  and  tomahawked  in  the  head. 

Q. — Did  Mr.  Rogers  have  any  interview  with  the  Indians  after  he 
got  in  until  the  one  on  the  stairs  ? 

A. — No.     As  soon  as  he  got  in  the  house  was  locked,  and  none  got 


488  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

in  after  that  till  we  were  all  up-stairs,  when  they  broke  the  doors  and 
windows. 

Q. — Did  the  Indians  have  an  interview  with  Mr.  Rogers  after  the 
one  on  the  stairs,  up  to  the  time  he  was  shot  ? 

A. — No ;  the  Indians  were  not  in  the  room,  except  Tamsaky  and  Joe 
Lewi*,  and  we  were  all  very  still  and  Mr.  Rogers  was  all  the  time  in 
my  sight,  except  as  I  stepped  to  the  bed  for  the  sheet,  and  I  was  very 
quick. 

Q. — Did  you  hear  it  reported  that  Mr.  Rogers  said  he  overheard  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Whitman  and  Mr.  Spalding  talking  at  night  about  poisoning 
the  Indians  ? 

A. — No  ;  but  after  being  taken  to  Umatilla,  one  of  the  two  French- 
men  said  that  the  Indians'  talk  was  that  an  Indian  who  understood 
English  overheard  such  conversation. 

Q. — Did  you  consider  Mr.  Rogers  and  Mrs.  Whitman  were  meeting 
their  fate  like  devoted  Christians  ? 

A.— Yes. 

Q. — When  did  the  priest  arrive  ? 

A. — Wednesday,  while  the  bodies  were  being  prepared  for  the 
grave.  The  bodies  were  collected  into  the  house  on  Tuesday  evening. 

Q. — Did  the  Indians  bury  a  vial  or  bottle  of  the  Doctor's  medicine  ? 

A. — They  said  they  did.  Joe  Stanfield  made  the  box  to  bury  it  in, 
and  the  Indians  said  they  buried  it. 

Q.— Why  did  they  bury  it  ? 

A. — They  said  the  priests  said  it  was  poison.  Stanfield  and  Nicholas 
were  their  interpreters  to  us. 

Q. — How  did  they  obtain  this  vial  ? 

A. — The  Indians  said  the  priests  found  it  among  the  Doctor's  med 
icines,  and  showed  it  to  them,  and  told  them  if  it  broke  it  would  poison 
the  whole  nation. 

Q. — Was  there  much  stir  among  the  Indians  about  this  bottle  ? 

A. — Yes,  a  great  deal. 

Q. — Why  did  the  Indians  kill  your  brother  ? 

A. — Edward  Tilokaikt  returned  from  the  Umatilla,  and  told  us  (after 
they  h;id  killed  him)  the  great  chief  told  them  their  disease  would 
spread. 

Q. — Did  your  brother  make  any  eifort  to  escape  ? 

A. — He  told  me  the  night  before  he  was  killed  that  he  was  preparing 
to  make  an  effort  to  escape.  I  told  him  he  must  not,  he  was  not  able 
to  walk.  He  said  he  had  that  day  agreed  with  Stanfield  to  get  him  a 
horse,  and  assist  him  away.  I  said,  "  What  will  become  of  me  ?"  He 
said,  "  I  know  you  have  been  greatly  abused,  and  all  I  care  for  my  life 


MISS  BEWLEY'S  DEPOSITION.  489 

is  to  get  away,  and  make  an  effort  to  save  you ;  but  I  may  be  killed 
before  to-morrow  at  this  time,  but,  if  it  is  the  Lord's  will,  I  am  prepared 
to  die."  This  was  Monday,  a  week  from  the  first  massacre.  About 
three  o'clock  the  next  day  my  brother  and  Mr.  Sales  were  killed,  and  / 
have  always  thought  that  Joe  Stanfield  betrayed  them. 

Q. — Did  the  Indians  threaten  you  all,  and  treat  you  with  cruelty  from 
the  first? 

A.— They  did. 

Q. — Did  they  on  Tuesday  assemble  and  threaten  your  lives  ? 

A. — Yes,  and  frequently  threatened  our  lives  afterward.  (See  state 
ment  of  Stanfield  by  Brouillet,  in  a  previous  chapter,  confirming  the 
fact  of  his  unbounded  influence  over  the  Indians.) 

Q. — When  were  the  young  women  first  dragged  out  and  brutally 
treated  ? 

A. — Saturday  night  after  the  first  massacre,  and  continually  after 
that. 

Q. — When  were  you  taken  to  the  TJmatilla  ? 

(Miss  Bewley  will  answer  this  question  after  we  have  given  Vicar- 
General  Brouillet  an  opportunity  to  state  his  part  in  this  tragedy.) 


CHAPTER  LYin. 

Vicar-General  Brouillet's  statement. — Statement  of  Istacus. — The  priest  finds  the  poison 
— Statement  of  William  G-eiger,  Jr. — Conduct  of  Mr.  McBean. — Influence  of  the 
Jesuit  missions. 

WE  left  Vicar-General  Brouillet  and  Bishop  Blanchet  and  his  priests 
on  their  way  to  their  station  on  the  Umatilla,  where  they  arrived  on 
November  27.  On  the  28th,  Brouillet  says,  page  47  :  "The  next  day 
being  Sunday,  we  were  visited  by  Dr.  Whitman,  who  remained  but  a 
few  minutes  at  the  house,  and  appeared  to  be  much  agitated.  Being 
invited  to  dine,  he  refused,  saying  that  he  feared  it  would  be  too  late, 
as  he  had  twenty-five  miles  to  go,  and  wished  to  reach  home  before 
night.  On  parting,  he  entreated  me  not  to  fail  to  visit  him  when  I 
would  pass  by  his  mission,  which  I  very  cordially  promised  to  do. 

"  On  Monday,  29th,  Mr.  Spalding  took  supper  with  us,  and  appeared 
quite  gay.  During  the  conversation,  he  happened  to  say  that  the 
Doctor  was  unquiet ;  that  the  Indians  were  displeased  with  him  on 
account  of  the  sickness,  and  that  even  he  had  been  informed  that  the 
Murderer  (an  Indian)  intended  to  kill  him;  but  he  seemed  not  to  believe 
this,  and  suspected  as  little  as  we  did  what  was  taking  place  at  the 
mission  of  the  Doctor." 

The  reader  will  note  and  remember  the  statement  which  follows  : 
Brouillet  says,  on  the  48th  page  of  his  narrative,  the  36th  of  J.  Iloss 
Browne's  report : — 

"  Before  leaving  Fort  Wallawalla,  it  had  been  decided  that,  after 
visiting  the  sick  people  of  my  own  mission  on  the  Umatilla,  I  should 
visit  those  of  Tilokaikt's  camp,  for  the  purpose  of  baptizing  the  infants 
and  such  dying  adults  as  might  desire  this  favor ;  and  the  Doctor  and 
Mr.  Spalding  having  informed  me  that  there  were  still  many  sick  per 
sons  at  their  mission.  I  was  confirmed  in  this  resolution,  and  made 
preparations  to  go  as  soon  as  possible. 

".After  having  finished  baptizing  the  infants  and  adults  of  my  mission, 
I  left  on  Tuesday,  the  30th  of  November,  late  in  the  afternoon,  for 
Tilokaikt's  camp,  where  I  arrived  between  seven  and  eight  o'clock  in 
the  evening.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  my  surprise  and  consternation 
when,  upon  my  arrival,  I  learned  that  the  Indians  the  day  before  had 
massacred  the  Doctor  and  his  wife,  with  the  greater  part  of  the  Ameri- 


BROUILLETS   STATEMENT.  491 

cans  at  the  mission.  I  passed  the  night  without  scarcely  closing  my 
eyes.  Early  the  next  morning  I  baptized  three  sick  children,  two  of 
whom  died  soon  after,  and  then  hastened  to  the  scene  of  death,  to  offer 
to  the  widows  and  orphans  all  the  assistance  in  my  power.  I  found  five 
or  six  women  and  over  thirty  children  in  a  situation  deplorable  beyond 
description.  Some  had  just  lost  their  husbands,  and  others  their 
fathers,  whom  they  had  seen  massacred  before  their  eyes,  and  were  ex 
pecting  every  moment  to  share  the  same  fate.  The  sight  of  those 
persons  caused  me  to  shed  tears,  which,  however,  I  was  obliged  to  con 
ceal,  for  I  was  the  greater  part  of  the  day  in  the  presence  of  the  mur 
derers,  and  closely  watched  by  them ;  and  if  I  had  shown  too  marked 
an  interest  in  behalf  of  the  sufferers,  it  would  only  have  endangered 
their  lives  and  mine ;  these,  therefore,  entreated  me  to  be  upon  my 
guard." 

The  women  that  lived  through  that  terrible  scene  inform  us  that  this 
priest  was  as  familiar  and  friendly  with  the  Indians  as  though  nothing 
serious  had  occurred.  We  have  seen  and  conversed  freely  with  four  of 
those  unfortunate  victims,  and  all  affirm  the  same  thing.  Their  im 
pression  was,  that  there  might  be  others  he  expected  to  be  killed,  and 
he  did  not  wish  to  be  present  when  it  was  done.  According  to  the 
testimony  in  the  case,  Mr.  Kimball  and  James  Young  were  killed  while 
he  was  at  or  near  the  station.  Brouillet  continues,  on  the  49th  page  : — 

"After  the  first  few  words  that  could  be  exchanged  under  the  cir 
cumstances,  I  inquired  after  the  victims,  and  was  told  they  were  yet 
unburied.  Joseph  JStanfield,  a  Frenchman,  who  was  in  the  employ  of 
Dr.  Whitman,  and  had  been  spared  by  the  Indians,  was  engaged  in 
washing  the  corpses,  but  being  alone,  he  was  unable  to  bury  them.  I 
resolved  to  go  and  assist  him,  so  as  to  render  to  these  unfortunate 
victims  the  last  service  in  my  power  to  offer  them.  What  a  sight 
did  I  then  behold  !  Ten  dead  bodies  lying  here  and  there,  covered 
with  blood,  and  bearing  the  marks  of  the  most  atrocious  cruelty, — some 
pierced  with  balls,  others  more  or  less  gashed  by  the  hatchet.  Dr. 
Whitman  had  received  three  gashes  on  the  face.  Three  others  had 
their  skulls  crushed  so  that  their  brains  were  oozing  out. 

"  I  assure  you,  sir,  that,  during  the  time  I  was  occupied  in  burying 
the  victims  of  this  disaster,  I  was  far  from  feeling  safe,  being  obliged  to 
go  here  and  there  gathering  up  the  dead  bodies,  in  the  midst  of  assas 
sins,  whose  hands  were  still  stained  with  blood,  and  who,  by  their 
manners,  their  countenances,  and  the  arms  which  they  still  carried, 
sufficiently  announced  that  their  thirst  for  blood  was  yet  unsatiated. 
Assuming  as  composed  a  manner  as  possible,  I  cast  more  than  one 
glance  aside  and  behind  at  the  knives,  pistols,  and  guns,  in  order 


492  HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 

to  assure  myself  whether  there  were  Dot  some  of  them  directed  toward 
me." 

The  above  extract  is  from  a  letter  addressed  to  Colonel  Gilliam.  The 
cause  of  the  priest's  alarm  is  explained  in  a  statement  found  in  the 
journal  of  Mr.  McLane,  private  secretary  to  Colonel  Gilliam,  while  in 
the  Cayuse  country,  taken  from  the  Indians'  statement  in  the  winter  of 
1847-48.  He  was  compelled  to  find  the  poison.  Brouillet  says : — 

"  The  ravages  which  the  sickness  had  made  in  their  midst,  together 
with  the  conviction  which  a  half-breed,  named  Joseph  Lewis,  had 
succeeded  in  fixing  upon  their  minds  that  Dr.  Whitman  had  poisoned 
them,  were  the  only  motives  I  could  discover  which  could  have 
prompted  them  to  this  act  of  murder.  This  half-breed  had  imagined 
a  conversation  between  Dr.  Whitman,  his  wife,  and  Mr.  Spalding,  in 
which  he  made  them  say  that  it  was  necessary  to  hasten  the  death  of 
the  Indians  in  order  to  get  possession  of  their  horses  and  lands.  '  If 
you  do  not  kill  the  Doctor,'  said  he,  '  you  will  be  dead  in  the  spring.'  " 

Statement  of  Istacus,  or  Stikas. 

In  the  first  place,  Joe  Lewis  told  the  Indians  that  the  Doctor  was 
poisoning.  Tamsaky  went  to  Camaspelo  and  told  him  he  wanted  to 
kill  the  Doctor,  and  wished  him  to  help.  He  replied,  pointing  to  his 
child,  that  his  child  was  sick,  and  that  was  as  much  as  he  could  attend 
to.  Tamsaky  then  went  to  Tilokaikt,  and  he  said  he  would  have  noth 
ing  to  do  with  it.  But  his  son  and  young  men  wished  to  do  it,  and  they 
contended  so  long  that  at  last  he  said  :  "  If  you  are  determined  to  do 
so,  go  and  kill  him."  AfterwaVd,  the  Indians  presented  a  gun  two 
different  times  to  Tarasaky,  and  told  him  to  go  and  kill  the  Doctor.  He 
said  he  would  not  kill  him. 

When  the  priests  came,  they  got  to  quarreling ;  the  Catholic  priests 
told  them  that  what  the  Doctor  taught  them  would  take  them  to  the 
devil,  and  the  Doctor  told  them  what  the  priests  taught  them  would 
take  them  to  the  devil.  After  the  priests  told  them  that,  the  Indians 
said  they  believed  it,  for  the  Doctor  did  not  cure  them. 

After  the  Doctor  was  killed,  the  priest  told  the  Young  Chief  that  it 
was  true  that  the  Doctor  had  given  them  poison  ;  before  that,  the  Doctor 
had  given  them  medicine  and  they  died.  After  the  massacre,  all  the 
Indians  went  to  the  priest's  house  (an  Indian  lodge  near  Dr.  Whitman's 
station),  and  I  said  that  I  was  going  to  ask  the  priest  himself  whether 
it  was  true  or  not,  so  that  I  could  hear  with  my  own  ears.  He  (the 
priest)  told  them  that  the  priests  were  sent  of  God.  They  did  not 
know  how  to  answer  him.  The  Five  Crows  told  me  that  the  priest  told 
him  the  Doctor  was  poisoning  them.  I  then  believed  it. 


TREATMENT   OF   MRS.    WHITMAN"   EXPLAINED.  493 

They  then  went  and  killed  the  two  sick  men  I  asked  the  Indians,  if 
he  gave  us  poison,  why  did  the  Americans  get  sick  ? 

[It  is  evident  that  this  conversation  took  place  at  the  camp  of 
Tilokaikt,  where  Mr.  Brouillet  says  he  spent  the  night  of  the  30th  of 
November.] 

Afterward,  they  went  to  the  Doctor's  place,  and  the  priest  was  there 
too,  and  they  asked  him  where  the  poison  was  that  the  Doctor  gave 
them.  After  searching  some  time  among  the  medicines,  he  found  a 
vial  with  something  white  in  it,  and  told  them,  "  Here  it  is."  I  tell  you 
what  I  heard. 

The  priest  then  told  them  that  Mrs.  Whitman  had  a  father  in  the 
States  that  gave  poison  to  the  people  there,  and  that  he  had  given  this  to 
her,  to  poison  them  all ;  then  they  all  believed.  I  told  them  that  I  did 
not  believe  that  the  Doctor  was  poisoning  them  ;  I  said  I  expected  they 
brought  the  sickness  with  them  from  California,  for  many  of  them  died 
coming  from  that  place.  Joe  Lewis  told  them  to  make  a  box,  and 
Beardy  buried  the  vial  in  the  square  box,  stating,  if  they  did  not,  the 
Americans  would  get  it  and  poison  them  all. 

The  head  man  of  the  priests  told  them  all  these  things,  and  the  priest 
took  all  the  best  books  to  his  house. 

The  above  is  a  true  extract  from  the  journal  of  Mr.  McLane,  pri 
vate  secretary  to  Colonel  Gilliam,  the  same  as  was  read  in  my  hearing 
to  Mungo,  the  interpreter  for  Colonel  Gilliam,  when  these  statements 
were  made,  and  he  said  it  was  true  and  correctly  written. 

(Signed,)  L.  H.  JUDSON. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me,  this  25th  day  of  November, 
1848,  Champoeg  County,  Oregon  Territory. 

AARON  PUKDY,  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

There  are  three  important  facts  stated  by  this  Indian  which  are  con 
firmed  by  other  testimony. 

First.  That  the  priest  was  upon  the  ground,  or  in  at  the  death. 

Second.  He  was  ready  to  overhaul  the  Doctor's  medicines  and  hunt 
out  some  vial,  and  tell  the  Indians,  "  Here  it  is, — the  medicine  the 
Doctor  has  been  killing  you  with" 

Third.  That  he  told  them  it  was  sent  to  the  Doctor  by  Mrs.  Whit 
man's  father,  who  poisoned  people  in  the  States. 

This  explains  the  terrible  and  brutal  treatment  of  Mrs.  Whitman's 
body,  even  after  death. 

Brouillet  says,    "  Joseph  Lewis  had  succeeded  in  fixing  upon  their 


494  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

minds  that  Dr.  Whitman  had  poisoned  them"  but  Istacus,  one  of  the 
first  and  most  truthful  Indians  we  became  acquainted  with  in  the 
country,  tells  us  that  the  Indians  did  not  believe  Joe  Lewis  till  the 
priest  confirmed  his  statements,  and  this  priest  was  required  to  show 
them  the  poison. 

It  would  not  be  strange,  if,  while  he  is  compelled  to  hunt  over  the 
medicines  of  Dr.  Whitman,  to  find  any  that  he  could  call  poison,  and 
in  exhibiting  such  evidence  to  the  deluded  murderers  about  him,  that  he 
should  feel  himself  in  danger,  yet  his  whole  conduct  belies  such  a  state 
ment,  for  he  well  knew  the  ignorance  of  those  about  him  as  to  any 
medicine  he  might  select  and  call  poison. 

This  Indian's  statement  also  explains  the  killing  of  the  two  young 
men,  Sales  and  Bewley,  and  that  as  these  priests  "  were  sent  of  God," 
the  disease  of  these  young  men  would  spread ;  in  other  words,  their  tes 
timony  would  convict  the  parties  implicated. 

We  find  in  this  same  letter  to  Colonel  Gilliam,  other  statements  that 
are  important  in  the  history  we  are  giving.  He  says:  "  I  knew  that 
the  Indians  were  angry  with  all  Americans,  and  more  enraged  against 
Mr.  Spalding  than  any  other"  If  this  was  the  case,  why  did  they  not 
kill  him  first  ?  There  is  certainly  some  mistake  in  this  statement  of 
Mr.  Brouillet,  or  else  the  Indians  were  too  hasty,  which  is  probably 
the  case.  The  Indians  were  not  quite  as  much  '•'•enraged"  against  Mr. 
Spalding  as  his  reverence,  who  claimed  to  know  their  feelings  so  well. 

Again,  on  the  54th  page  (39th  of  Ross  Browne),  in  answer  to  Mr. 
Spakling's  wild,  despairing  cry,  "  But  where  shall  I  go  ?"  he  answers : 
"I  know  not ;  you  know  the  country  better  than  I;  all  that  I  know  is 
that  the  Indians  say  the  order  to  kill  Americans  has  been  sent  in  all 
directions." 

How  did  this  Rev.  Father  Bronillet  know  all  this  ?  We  have  yet  to 
learn  that  he  ever  gave  a  single  American,  except  Mr.  Spalding,  any 
information  respecting  their  danger, — which  he  certainly  could  have 
done  with  perfect  safety,  by  sending  any  one  or  all  of  them  a  written 
notice  of  the  "  order  to  kill  Americans  ;"  but  instead  of  warning  them 
of  their  danger,  he  was  present  to  show  to  the  Indians  a  vial  of  Dr. 
Whitman's  medicine  and  tell  them  it  was  the  poison. 

The  long  list  of  statements  collected  and  given  to  the  world  as  reliable 
historical  data,  by  this  priest,  and  embodied  in  an  official  report  by  J. 
Ross  Browne,  do  but  show  the  active  part  he,  with  his  associate  priests 
and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  took  to  destroy  the  American  influence 
and  settlements  then  in  the  country. 

Says  the  historian  Bancroft :  "  It  is  the  duty  of  faithful  history  to 
trace  events  not  only  to  their  cause,  but  to  their  authors." 


McBEAN'S  PARTISAN   EFFORT.  495 

We  will  direct  our  attention  for  a  short  time  to  the  proceedings  of 
Mr.  McBean  in  charge  of  Fort  Watiawaila  (or  Fort  Nez  Perces),  in 
council  with  the  Indians.  From  the  statement  of  Mr.  Wm.  Geiger,  Jr., 
who  was  at  Dr.  Whitman's  station  during  the  winter  of  1846-7,  teach 
ing  school,  we  learn  that  the  Indians  showed  some  dissatisfaction,  and 
were  called  together  by  Dr.  Whitman,  to  consult  and  decide  what 
they  would  do.  The  Doctor  proposed  to  them  that  a  majority  of  the 
tribe  should  let  him  know  definitely,  and  a  vote  was  taken,  and  but 
two  or  three  were  found  to  favor  his  leaving.  During  this  council  Mr. 
Geiger  and  the  Doctor  learned  that  there  had  been  conversation  and 
a  council  with  the  Indians  at  the  fort,  by  Mr.  McBean.  That  he  had 
informed  them  of  the  Mexican  war  between  the  United  States  and 
Mexico,  and  of  the  prospect  of  a  war  between  the  United  States  and 
England  (King  George  men),  and  that  he  was  anxious  to  know 
which  side  the  Cayuses  would  take  in  the  event  of  such  a  war.  This 
question  Mr.  McBean  kept  constantly  before  the  Indians  whenever 
they  went  to  the  fort.  They  would  return  to  the  station  and  say  that 
Mr.  McBean  had  given  them  more  news  of  the  prospect  of  war  between 
the  King  George  people  and  Americans,  and  that  he  wished  to  know 
which  side  they  would  take.  Tamsaky,  Tilokaikt,  and  one  other  Indian 
said  they  had  told  Mr.  McBean  that  they  would  join  the  King  George. 
Some  said  they  had  told  him  their  hearts  favored  the  Americans  ;  others 
professed  to  be  on  the  "  back-bone"  i.  e.,  hesitating.  All  matters  and 
causes  of  dissatisfaction  between  the  Doctor's  mission  and  the  Indians 
were  amicably  settled.  The  Doctor  and  Mr.  Geiger  could  not  see  why 
Mr.  McBean  should  beset  the  Indians  on  that  subject,  unless  it  was  to 
bring  about  what  had  been  before,  viz.,  to  make  allies  of  the  Indians 
in  case  of  war. 

On  account  of  this  dissatisfaction,  the  Doctor  thought  of  leaving. 
Mr.  Geiger  says,  "I  told  them  I  thought  it  their  duty  to  remain. 
I  thought  the  Indians  as  quiet  as  communities  in  general ;  in  old  places 
there  were  more  or  less  difficulties  and  excitements." 

In  the  communication  signed  by  Mr.  Geiger,  he  is  asked,  "  What 
was  the  cause  of  discouragement  with  the  Doctor  and  Mr.  Spalding  at 
that  time  ?" 

A. — "  The  influence  of  the  Roman  priests,  exercised  in  talking  to 
the  Indians,  and  though  the  French  half-breed,  Lehai,  Tom  Hill,  a 
Delaware  Indian,  and  others." 

Q. — "  What  did  the  Indians  mention  was  the  instruction  they  re 
ceived  from  Roman  Catholics  ?"  *** 

A. — "That  the  Protestants  were  leading  them  in  wrong  roads,  i.  e., 
even  to  hell.  If  they  followed  the  Suapies  (Americans)  they  would 


496  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

continue  to  die.  If  they  followed  the  Catholics,  it  would  be  otherwise 
with  them  ;  only  now  and  then  one  would  die  of  age.  That  they 
would  get  presents, — would  become  rich  in  every  thing." 

We  have  a  statement  made  by  Brouillet  as  to  their  influence  among 
the  Indians  on  this  coast,  found  on  the  87th  page  of  his  narrative, 
"Protestantism  in  Oregon"  (55th  of  Ross  Browne).  He  says  : — 

"Messrs.  Blanchet  and  Demerse,  the  first  Catholic  missionaries  that 
came  to  Oregon,  had  passed  Wallawalla  in  1838,  where  they  had 
stopped  a  few  days,  and  had  been  visited  by  the  Indians.  In  1839,  Mr. 
Demerse  had  spent  three  weeks  in  teaching  the  Indians  and  baptizing 
their  children.  In  1840,  he  had  made  there  a  mission  so  fruitful  that 
the  Protestant  missionaries  had  got  alarmed,  and  feared  that  all  their 
disciples  would  abandon  them  if  he  continued  his  missions  among  them. 
Father  De  Smet,  after  visiting  the  Flatheads  in  1840,  had  come  and 
established  a  mission  among  them  in  1841 ;  and  from  that  time  down 
to  the  arrival  of  the  bishop,  the  Indians  of  Wallawalla  and  of  the 
Upper  Columbia  had  never  failed  to  be  visited  yearly,  either  by  Mr. 
Demerse  or  by  some  of  the  Jesuits,  and  those  annual  excursions  had 
procured  every  year  new  children  to  the  church.  Almost  every  Indian 
tribe  possessed  some  Catholic  member." 

We  can  bear  positive  testimony  as  to  the  effect  and  influence  of 
those  teachings  up  to  1842  among  the  Upper  Columbia  Indians;  and 
it  is  to  illustrate  the  bearing  and  result  of  those  teachings,  continued 
for  a  series  of  years  upon  the  savage  mind,  and  the  influence  of  a 
foreign  monopoly  in  connection  with  such  teachers,  that  we  bring  these 
statements  before  the  reader. 

The  vast  influence  wielded  by  this  foreign  fur  and  sectarian  monopoly 
was  used  to  secure  Oregon  for  their  exclusive  occupation.  The  tes 
timony  of  Rev.  Messrs.  Beaver  and  Barnley,  and  Sir  Edward  Belcher, 
as  given  by  Mr.  Fitzgerald,  and  that  of  his  Reverence  Brouillet,  as 
found  on  the  56th  page  of  his  narrative,  all  affirm  the  close  connec 
tion  of  these  two  influences.  Leaving  out  of  the  question  the  state 
ment  of  many  others,  we  have  that  of  this  priest.  He  says : — 

"  Some  days  after  an  express  reached  us  from  the  fort,  informing  us 
that  our  lives  were  in  danger  from  a  portion  of  the  Indians  who  could 
not  pardon  me  for  "having  deprived  them  of  their  victim;  and  this  was 
the  only  reason  which  prevented  me  from  fulfilling  the  promise  which 
I  had  made  to  the  widows  and  orphans  of  returning  to  see  them,  and 
obliged  me  to  be  contented  with  sending  my  ^interpreter"  to  the  scene 
of  the  murder,  to  bring  Miss  Bewley  to  be  treated  as  the  evidence  in 
the  next  chapter  will  show. 


CHAPTER  LIX. 

Continuation  of  Miss  Bewley's  evidence. — The  priests  refuse  her  protection. — Forcibly 
taken  from  the  bishop's  house  by  Five  Crows. — Brouillet  advises  her  to  remain  with 
her  Indian  violator. — Indecent  question  by  a  priest. — Mr.  Brouillet  attempts  to  get 
a  statement  from  her. — Two  questions. — Note  from  Mrs.  Bewley'. — Bishop  Blan 
che  t's  letter  to  Governor  Abernethy. — Comments  on  the  Jesuits'  proceedings. — 
Grand  council  at  the  bishop's. — Policy  in  forcing  Miss  Bewley  to  Five  Crows' 
lodge. — Speeches  by  Camaspelo  and  Tilokaikt. — Killing  of  Elijah  and  the  Nez 
Perce  chief  commented  on. — The  true  story  told. — Dr.  White's  report. — The  grand 
council  again. — Review  of  Brouillet's  narrative. — Who  were  the  real  authors  of 
the  massacre. 

3Iiss  Bewley's  Deposition  Continued. 

Q. — WHEN  were  you  taken  to  the  Umatilla  ? 

A. — Just  at  night,  on  Thursday  the  next  week  after  the  first  mas 
sacre,  having  shaken  with  the  ague  that  day ;  slept  out  that  night  in 
the  snow-storm. 

Q. — Whose  horses  came  after  you  ? 

A. — Eliza  Spalding  said  they  belonged  to  her  father ;  this  led  us  to 
suppose  Mr.  Spalding  was  killed. 

Q. — When  did  you  leave  Umatilla  ? 

A. — On  Monday  before  the  Wednesday  on  which  we  all  went  to 
Wallawalla. 

Q. — When  did  you  reach  Wallawalla  ? 

A. — On  Wednesday  before  the  Saturday  on  which  Mr.  Spalding 
and  company  arrived,  and  Ave  all .  started  the  next  day  for  the  lower 
country. 

Q. — Where  did  you  spend  your  time  when  at  the  Umatilla  ? 

A. — Most  of  the  time  at  the  house  of  the  bishop;  but  the  Five 
Crows  (Brouillet's  Achekaia)  most  of  the  nights  compelled  me  to  go  to 
his  lodge  and  be  subject  to  him  during  the  night.  I  obtained  the 
privilege  of  going  to  the  bishop's  house  before  violation  on  the 
Umatilla,  and  begged  and  cried  to  the  bishop  for  protection  either  at 
his  house,  or  to  be  sent  to  Wallawalla.  I  told  him  I  would  do  any  work 
by  night  and  day  for  him  if  he  would  protect  me.  He  said  he  would 
do  all  he  could.  [The  sequel  shows  that  in  this  promise  the  bishop 
meant  to  implicate  and  involve  the  Five  Crows,  should  a  war  with  the 
American  settlement  grow  out  of  the  massacre.]  Although  I  was  taken 
32 


498  HISTORY  OF  OREGON-. 

to  the  lodge,  I  escaped  violation  the  first  four  nights.  There  were  the 
bishop,  three  priests,  and  two  Frenchmen  at  the  bishop's  house.  The 
first  night  the  Five  Crows  came,  I  refused  to  go,  and  he  went  away, 
apparently  mad,  and  the  bishop  told  me  I  had  better  go,  as  he  might 
do  us  all  an  injury,  and  the  bishop  sent  an  Indian  ivith  me.  He  took 
me  to  the  Five  Crows'  lodge.  The  Five  Crows  showed  me  the  door, 
and  told  me  I  might  go  back,  and  take  my  clothes,  which  I  did. 

Three  nights  after  this,  the  Five  Crows  came  for  me  again.  The 
bishop  finally  ordered  me  to  go;  my  answer  was,  I  had  rather  die. 
After  this,  lie  still  insisted  on  my  going  as  the  best  thing  I  could  do. 
I  was  then  in  the  bishop's  room;  the  three  priests  were  there.  I 
found  I  could  get  no  help,  and  had  to  go,  as  he  told  me,  out  of  his 
room.  The  Five  Crows  seized  me  by  the  arm  and  jerked  me  away  to 
his  lodge. 

Q. — How  long  were  you  at  the  Umatilla  ? 

A. — Two  weeks,  and  from  Friday  till  Monday.     I  would  return  early 
in  the  morning  to  the  bishop's  house,  and  be  violently  taken  away  at 
night.     The  bishop  provided  kindly  for  me  while  at  his  house.     On  my 
return  one  morning,  one  of  the  young  priests  asked  me,  in  a  good  deal 
of  glee,  how  Hiked  my  companion.     I  felt  that  this  would  break  my 
heart,  and  cried  much  during  the  day.     When  the  two  Nez  Perces 
arrived  with  Mr.  Spalding's  letter,  they  held  a  council  in  the  bishop's 
room,  and  the  bishop  said  they  were  trying  to  have  things  settled.     He 
said  Mr.  Spalding  was  trying  to   get  the  captives  delivered  up  ;    I  do 
not  recollect  what  day  this  was,  but  it  was  some  days  before  we  heard 
that  Mr.  Ogden  had  arrived  at  Wallawalla.  When  the  tall  priest  (Brou- 
illet)  that  was  at  the  Doctor's  at  the  first  was  going  to  Wallawalla, 
after  hearing  of  Mr.  Ogden's  arrival,  he  called  me  out  of  the  door  and  told 
me  if  I  went  to  the  lodge  any  more  I  must  not  come  back  to  his  house. 
I  asked  him  what  I  should  do.     He  said  I  must  insist  or  beg  of  the 
Indian  to  let  me  stop  at  his  house ;  if  he  would  not  let  me,  then  I  must 
stay  at  his  lodge.     I  did  not  feel  well,  and  toward  night  I  took  advan 
tage  of  this  and  went  to  bed,  determined  I  would   die  there  before  I 
would  be  taken  away.     The  Indian  came,  and,  on  my  refusing  to  go, 
hauled  me  from  my  bed  and  threw  my  bonnet  and  shawl  at  me,  and 
told  me  to  go.     I  would  not,  and  at  a  time  when  his  eyes  were  off  I 
threw  them  under  the  table  and  he  could  not  find  them.     I  sat  down, 
determined  not  to  go,  and  he  pushed  me  nearly  into  the  fire.     The 
Frenchmen  were  in  the  room,  and  the  bishop  and  priests  were  passing 
back  and  forth  to  their  rooms.     When  the  Indian  was  smoking,  I  went 
to  bed  again,  and  when  he  was  through  smoking  he  dragged  me  from 
my  bed  with  more  violence  than  the  first  time.     I  told  the  Frenchman 


MISS  BEWLEY'S  DEPOSITION.  499 

to  go  into  the  bishop's  room  and  ask  him  what  I  should  do  ;  he  came 
out  and  told  me  that  the  bishop  said  it  was  best  for  me  to  go.  I  told 
him  the  tall  priest  said,  if  I  went  I  must  not  come  back  again  to  this 
house ;  he  said  the  priests  dared  not  keep  women  about  their  house,  but 
if  the  Five  Crows  sent  me  back  again,  why  come.  I  still  would  not  go. 
The  Indian  then  pulled  me  away  violently  without  bonnet  or  shawl. 
Next  morning  I  came  back  and  was  in  much  anguish  and  cried  much. 
The  bishop  asked  me  if  I  was  in  much  trouble  f  I  told  him  I  was. 
He  said  it  was  not  my  fault,  that  I  could  not  help  myself.  That  I  must 
pray  to^God  and  Mary.  He  asked  me  if  I  did  not  believe  in  God ;  I 
told  him  I  did. 

We  will  not  stop  to  comment  on  the  simple  narrative  of  this  young 
woman.  No  language  of  mine  will  more  deeply  impress  the  reader 
with  the  debasing  character  of  these  "holy  fathers,  the  Catholic  priests," 
that  served  the  Honorable  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  mother  church 
so  faithfully. 

It  appears  that  Miss  Bewley  arrived  at  the  bishop's  on  the  10th  of 
December.  On  the  58th  page  of  Brouillet's  narrative  (41st  of  Browne's) 
we  find  the  following  language : — 

"  On  the  llth  of  December  we  had  the  affliction  to  hear  that  one  of 
the  captives  had  been  carried  off  from  the  Doctor's  house  by  the  order 
of  Five  Crows,  and  brought  to  him ;  and  we  learned  that  two  others 
had  been  violated  at  the  Doctor's  house." 

How  seriously  these  holy  fathers  were  afflicted,  Miss  Bewley  has  tald 
us  in  language  not  to  be  misunderstood.  Her  statement  continues : — 

Last  summer,  when  I  was  teaching  school  near  Mr.  Bass,  the  tall 
priest,  whose  name  I  have  learned  was  Brouillet,  called  on  me,  and  told 
me  that  Mr.  Spalding  was  trying  to  ruin  my  character  and  his,  and  said 
that  Mr.  Spalding  had  said  that  I  had  told  him  (Mr.  S.)  that  the  priests 
had  treated  me  as  bad  as  the  Indians  ever  had,  I  told  him  I  had  not 
said  so.  He  said  he  wanted  to  ask  me  some  questions,  and  would  send 
the  Doctor,  who  could  speak  better  English ;  he  wished  me  to  write  it ; 
I  told  him  I  would  rather  not  do  it.  When  at  the  Umatilla,  the 
Frenchmen  told  me  that  they  were  making  arrangements  to  locate  the 
priests, — two  at  Mr.  Spalding's  as  soon  as  Mr.  S.  got  away,  and  two  at 
the  Dalles,  and  they  were  going  to  the  Doctor's  next  week  to  build  a 
house.  This  conversation  was  before  Mr.  Ogden  arrived  at  Walla  walla.  . 

Q. — Did  Dr.  Whitman  wish  to  have  Joe  Lewis  stop  at  his  place  ? 

A. — He  let  him  stop  at  first  only  because  he  said  he  had  no  shoes  nor 
clothes,  and  could  not  go  on ;  but  when  a  good  many,  on  account  of 


500  .       HISTOEY  OF  OKEGOtf. 

sickness,  had  no  drivers,  the  Doctor  furnished  Joe  with  shoes  and  shirts, 
and  got  him  to  drive  a  team.  He  was  gone  three  days,  and  came  back, 
"but  the  Doctor  never  liked  it.  I  heard  Mrs.  Whitman  and  the  Sagei 
boys  say  that  Joe  Lewis  was  making  disturbance  among  the  Indians. 

Q. — Did  you  ever  hear  the  Doctor  express  any  fears  about  the  Cath-  • 
olics  ? 

A. — Only  once ;  the  Doctor  said  at  the  table :  '/  Now  I  shall  have 
trouble  ;  these  priests  are  coming."  Mrs.  Whitman  asked  :  "  Have  the 
Indians  let  them  have  land  ?"  He  said :  "  I  think  they  have."  Mrs. 
Whitman  said  :  "  It's  a  wonder  they  do  not  come  and  kill  us."  This 
land  was  out  of  sight  of  the  Doctor's  as  you  come  this  way  (west  of  the 
station).  When  the  Frenchman  was  talking,  at  Umatilla,  of  going  to 
build  a  house  there,  he  said  it  was  a  prettier  station  than  the  Doctor's. 
(Signed,)  LOKHSTDA  BEWLEY. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me,  this  12th  day  of  December,  1848. 
G.  WALLING,  Justice  of  the  Peace, 

Clackamas  County,  Oregon  Territory. 

We  have  another  original  statement  of  Miss  Bewley's,  as  taken  by 
Rev.  J.  S.  Griffin,  which  we  will  give  as  a  part  properly  belonging  to 
the  above  statement. 

OREGON  CITY,  February  7,  1849. 

Questions  to  Miss  Lorinda  Bewley,  in  further  examination  touching 
the  Wailatpu  massacre  : — 

Q. — Did  the  Five  Crows,  when  you  were  taken  to  his  lodge  from  the 
bishop's  house  by  an  Indian,  send  you  back  with  your  things  in  apparent 
anger,  or  did  he  appear  at  that  time  to  pity  you  ? 

A. — I  thought  at  the  time  that  I  had  good  evidence,  from  his  manner 
and  behavior  to  me  at  the  lodge  in  giving  me  up,  that  he  was  disposed 
to  pity  me,  and  not  to  abuse  me. 

Q. — Did  you  anticipate  that  evening  that  he  would  demand  you 
afterward  ? 

A. — No  ;  I  did  not  think  he  was  disposed  to. 

Q. — What  was  this  Five  Crows'  English  name  ? 

A. — Hezekiah  (Brouillet's  Achekaia). 

Q. — Did  you  have  evidence  that  it  was  necessary  for  Hezekiah  to  hold 
you  as  a  wife  to  save  you  from  a  general  abuse  by  the  Indians  ? 

A. — I  was  overwhelmed  with  such  evidence  at  Wailatpu,  but  saw 
none  of  it  at  the  Umatilla. 

Q. — What  was  the  order  of  conversation  to  you  when  the  priest  went 
to  Wallawalla,  after  hearing  of  Mr.  Ogden's  arrival  ? 


MISS  BEWLEY'S  DEPOSITION.  501 

A. — I  besought  him  to  do  all  he  could  at  the  fort  to  obtain  my  deliv 
ery  from  bondage,  and  he  said  he  would.  A  little  after  he  called  me 
to  step  out  of  the  door  from  the  rest,  and  told  me  if  I  went  with  the 
Indian  I  must  not  come  back  to  his  house  any  more,  when  I  burst  out 
crying,  and  asked  him  what  to  do ;  he  said  I  must  insist  or  beg  the 
Indian  to  let  me  remain,  or  I  must  remain  there.  I  begged  him,  as  I 
was  alone  there,  he  would  do  every  thing  in  his  power  to  get  Mr.  Ogden 
to  take  me  away,  whether  he  could  obtain  all  the  prisoners  or  not. 

Q. — Did  you  know  of  the  priests  having  baptized  any  at  the  time  of 
the  burial  at  Wailatpu  ? 

A. — I  did  not ;  but  they  were  baptizing  a  great  many  at  the  Umatilla, 
principally  children ;  two  the  same  day  after  I  went  there,  and  very 
frequently  afterward.  On  Christmas  day  they  baptized  many. 

Q. — Was  it  understood  among  the  Indians  that  the  families  at  the 
mill  were  English  ? 

A. — Yes,  sir ;  and  Mr.  Smith  was  an  Englishman. 

Q. — Did  the  report  reach  the  Indians  at  Wailatpu  before  you  went  to 
Umatilla,  that  the  Indians  were  told  at  the  Fort  Wallawalla  that  they 
must  not  kill  any  more  Americans  ? 

A. — Yes,  sir.     This  seemed  to  be  generally  understood. 

Q. — Was  it  made  known  to  you  captives  what  Edward  Tilokaikt 
was  gone  to  the  Umatilla  for  ? 

A. — It  was  made  known  to  us,  after  a  council,  that  Edward  was  to  go 
to  the  big  chief  at  the  Umatilla  and  see  what  was  to  be  done  with  us, 
and  especially  with  the  young  women ;  and,  after  his  return,  he  imme 
diately  commenced  the  massacre  of  the  sick  young  men,  and  the  next 
morning  announced  to  us  that  the  arrangement  had  been  made  for  Hez- 
ekiah  to  come  and  take  his  choice  among  the  young  women,  and  that 
Edward  and  Clark  Tilokaikt  were  then  to  take  the  other  two.  Hezekiah 
was  a  chief  [the  one  appointed  by  Dr.  White  in  1843],  and  regarded  by 
us,  and  I  believe  by  others,  as  a  single  man.  Edward  and  Clark  were 
only  the  sons  of  a  chief.  Hezekiah  did  not  coine  for  me  himself,  but 
sent  a  man  [Brouillet  says,  page  56  (Ross  Browne,  40),  the  caution  he 
received  from  Mr.  McBean  "  obliged  me  to  be  content  with  sending 
my  interpreter"]  and  a  boy  for  the  young  woman  that  was  a  member 
of  Mrs.  Whitman's  family.  The  contract  between  my  mother  and  Mrs. 
Whitman  was,  that  I  was  to  continue  my  studies  with  Mrs.  Whitman, 
and  take  part  with  her  in  the  instruction  and  care  of  the  children. 

Q. — After  Mr.  Rogers  entered  the  house  wounded,  and  closed  the 
doors,  did  he  have  any  conversation  with  Nicholas  or  the  Manson  boys  ? 

A. — 'No.     Neither  of  them  came  into  the  house. 

LOKINDA  BEWLEY. 


502  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Rev.  J.  S.  Griffin  says  he  is  ready  to  testify  to  the  fact  that  the  above 
is  a  true  statement,  as  made  by  Miss  Bewley,  and  it  was  his  own  over 
sight  at  the  time  that  her  oath  was  not  attached  before  a  justice  of  the 
peace. 

There  was  no  other  person  living  at  the  time  that  could  positively 
state  the  facts  as  given  by  Miss  Bewley ;  others  have  given  their  depo 
sitions,  which  confirm  her  statements,  and  show  them  to  be  the  simple, 
unvarnished  truth  of  the  whole  scene  that  passed  before  her,  and  her 
treatment  by  those  "holy  fathers,  the  bishop  and  his  priests ." 

We  are  forced  to  confess,  that,  after  studying  and  copying  these  old 
documents  and  papers,  we  dare  not  trust  ourselves  to  express  an  opin 
ion,  lest  the  reader  should  say  our  feelings  have  overcome  our  better 
judgment.  .Therefore  we  will  simply  ask  a  question  or  two,  and  let 
each  reader  answer  for  himself. 

What  think  you,  kind  reader,  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and 
Roman  Catholic  Jesuits,  and  priests  and  bishop  in  Oregon  in  1847-8? 

Did  not  Dr.  Whitman,  his  wife,  and  all  at  his  mission  suffer,  and  many 
of  them  die,  to  save  Oregon  as  a  part  of  the  great  American  Republic  ? 

We  know  that  a  few  of  the  poor  miserably  deluded  Indians  belonging 
to  his  mission  have  suffered  an  ignominious  death  by  being  hung  like 
dogs  (a  death,  of  all  others,  the  most  odious  to  them),  and  for  what  ? 
Simply  because  they  were  deceived  by  those  who  knew  at  the  time  they 
were  deceiving  them ;  and  who  have  since  so  managed  as  to  deceive 
the  Christian  world,  and  bring  falsehood  to  cover  their  participation  in 
the  transaction. 

We  would  not  have  been  so  particular,  nor  copied  documents  so 
extensively,  had  we  not  before  us  a  narrative  of  108  pages,  written  by 
one  of  these  " holy  fathers"  Vicar-General  Brouillet,  purporting  to 
give  the  causes  both  remote  and  immediate  of  this  horrible  massacre ; 
giving  it  the  title  of  "  Protestantism  in  Oregon,  account  of  the  murder 
of  Dr.  Whitman,  and  the  ungrateful  calumnies  of  H.  H.  Spalding, 
Protestant  missionary,"  in  which  he  searches  back  even  before  the 
arrival  of  Dr.  Whitman  in  the  country,  and  cites  Rev.  Mr.  Parker's  first 
supposed  or  imaginary  statements  to  the  Indians  as  a  cause  of  the 
massacre,  which  we  know  to  be  false  and  unfounded  from  the  six  years7 
early  acquaintance  we  had  with  those  Indians;  and  also  from  the  per 
sonal  allusions  he  makes  to  transactions  with  which  we  were  intimately 
acquainted,  and  know  to  be  false  in  fact  and  inference.  These  state 
ments  of  this  priest  and  his  associates,  McBean  and  Sir  James  Douglas, 
have  induced  us  to  extend  the  particulars  of  that  massacre  beyond  our 
original  design  in  giving  the  history  of  Oregon.  As  he  claims  great 
credit  for  himself  and  associates,  Stanfield  in  particular,  in  burying 


HYPOCRISY  OF  PRIESTS.  5Q3 

the  dead,  and  showing  kindness  to  the  widows  and  orphans,  we  will 
give  another  item  to  show  the  character  of  the  thief,  liar,  and  accom 
plice  in  that  massacre,  whom  this  priest,  is  so  ready  in  his  narrative  to 
claim  as  a  saint. 

Mrs.  Catharine  Bewley  says:  "Dr.  Prettyman  said  to  me  that  Joe 
Stanfield  told  him  at  his  own  house,  when  the  sheriff  had  him  in  custody, 
that  '  the  morning  of  the  day  when  young  Bewley  was  killed,  he  had 
gone  into  the  room  and  had  hid  every  thing  in  the  room  back  of  the 
bed  he  was  upon.'  This,  the  doctor  thought,  showed  that  he  was  the 
cause  of  his  being  killed." 

Under  date  of  Umatilla,  December  21, 1847,  Father  Blanchet,  bishop 
of  Wallawalla,  writes  to  Governor  Abernethy  as  follows  : — • 

"  As  soon  as  I  had  been  informed  what  had  happened,  I  instantly 
told  the  two  chiefs  near  my  house  that  I  hoped  the  women  and  children 
would  be  spared  until  they  could  be  sent  to  the  Wallamet.  They  an 
swered  :  '  We  pity  them, — they  shall  not  be  harmed ;  they  shall  be  taken 
care  of,  as  before.'  I  have  since  had  the  satisfaction  to  hear  that  they 
have  been  true  to  their  word,  and  that  they  have  taken  care  of  these 
poor  people." 

In  Father  Brouillet's  narrative,  page  57  (Ross  Browne,  page  41),  he 
says :  "  On  the  3d,  the  bishop  called  for  the  Young  Chief  and  his 
brother  Five  Crows,  in  order  to  express  to  them  how  deeply  he  had  been 
pained  by  the  news  of  the  horrible  affair  at  Wailatpu,  and  to  recommend 
to  their  care  the  widows  and  orphans^  as  well  as  the  men  who  had  sur 
vived  the  massacre.  They  protested  to  have  given  no  consent  to  what 
had  happened  at  Wailatpu,  and  promised  to  do  all  in  their  power  for 
the  survivors. 

"  On  the  10th  we  received  the  painful  intelligence  that  two  other 
young  men,  who,  being  sick,  had  been  spared  by  the  Indians  at  the  time 
of  the  first  massacre,  had  since  been  torn  from  their  beds  and  cruelly 
butchered." 

The  positive  testimony  in  regard  to  these  two  young  men  is  already 
before  the  reader.  If  this  bishop  and  priest  do  not  act  and  narrate 
falsely,  we  ask,  What  is  falsehood  f 

After  giving  a  description  of  the  grand  council  held  at  the  Catholic 
mission  house  by  Tawatowe,  Tilokaikt,  Achekaia,  and  Camaspelo, 
Brouillet  says,  on  page  67:  "Before  taking  leave  of  the  chiefs, .the 
bishop  said  to  them  all  publicly,  as  he  had  also  done  several  times 
privately,  that  those  who  had  taken  American  girls  should  give  them 
up  immediately.  And  then  all  entreated  Five  Crows  repeatedly  to  give 
up  the  one  whom  he  had  taken,  but  to  no  purpose."  How  does  this 
compare  with  Miss  Bewley's  testimony  ? 


504  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

We  must  ask  to  be  excused  from  at  present  commenting  further  upon 
the  notes  and  extracts  from  the  statements  of  these  several  parties. 
They  are  before  you,  reader,  not  as  fiction  or  imagination;  they  are 
transactions  connected  with  the  history  we  are  writing.  The  state 
ments  on  the  part  of  this  bishop  and  his  priests  have  been  published 
and  extensively  circulated,  and  have  been  believed,  and  have  had  far 
too  much  influence  in  encouraging  and  sustaining  them  among  their 
deluded  victms ;  besides  mystifying,  and  causing  a  public  sentiment 
to  be  generally  entertained  derogatory  to  the  Protestant  and  American 
missionary  influence  in  Oregon. 

We  have  given  an  account  of  this  bishop  and  his  priests  on  the  first 
commencement  of  their  missionary  efforts  among  the  Cay  use  Indians, 
and  have  followed  them  through  their  labors,  and  their  legitimate  re 
sults,  till  we  now*  come  to  the  16th  of  December,  the  day  on  which  they 
received  a  wTild,  incoherent — not  to  say  injudicious  and  foolish — letter 
from  Rev.  Mr.  Spalding,  which  they  gave,  with  a  flourish  of  trumpets 
and  shout  of  triumph,  on  their  arrival  in  Wallamet,  to  be  published  as 
evidence  of  their  extensive  influence  over  the  Indians,  and  to  destroy  the 
influence  of  Mr.  Spalding  as  a  missionary.  In  this  they  have  succeeded 
but  too  well,  and  for  which  we  should  look  closely  into  their  proceed 
ings  with  the  Indians. 

Brouillet,  on  the  58th  and  61st  pages  (41st  and  43d  of  Browne),  in 
speaking  of  the  Nez  Perces  who  brought  Mr.  Spalding's  letter,  says  : — 

"  We  had  reason  to  be  astonished  at  that  confidence  of  those  Indians, 
as  we  had  had  as  yet  no  opportunity  of  seeing  any  one  of  the  Nez 
Perces  since  our  arrival  in  the  country. 

"  The  two  Nez  Perce  chiefs  advised  the  Cayuses  to  take  measures  for 
avoiding  a  war  with  Americans.  They  requested  the  bishop  to  write 
to  Governor  Abernethy,  begging  him  not  to  send  up  an  army,  but  rather 
to  come  himself  in  the  spring  and  make  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Cay- 
uses,  who  promised  that  they  would  then  release  the  captives  of  Wail- 
atpu, — promising  besides  to  offer  no  injury  to  Americans  until  they 
heard  the  news  from  Wallamet.  The  bishop  told  them  that  he  icas 
glad  of  their  proceeding,  and  was  disposed  to  assist  them  to  the  extent 
of  his  power,  but  that  he  could  not  write  without  knowing  the  opinion 
of  the  Cayuses,  and  that  as  soon  as  he  could  learn  this  he  would  send  an 
express  below.  He  then  encouraged  them  to  see  all  the  chiefs  about  it." 

From  the  above  and  subsequent  statements  and  transactions,  we 
have  no  reason  to  doubt  the  truth  of  the  bishop's  remark,  "that  he 
was  glad  of  their  proceeding."  There  can  be  no  question  that  he  did 
all  he  could  to  help  the  Indians,  and  to  defeat  the  provisional  troops 
and  government,  as  is  proved  by  the  evidence  already  given,  and  will 


INDIAN  COUNCIL.  505 

be  seen  as  we  proceed.  He  tells  the  Indians  that  he  could  not  write, 
without  knowing  the  opinion  of  the  Cayuses  ;  he  must  be  satisfied  that 
they  are  all  united,  and  when  he  has  learned  that  fact,  he  can  write  with 
more  assurance  and  effect  to  the  governor.  He  extends  consolation 
and  encouragement  to  Camaspelo  on  the  18th,  and  two  days  after  con 
venes  the  council  alluded  to. 

"Accordingly,  on  Monday,  20th  December,  1847,  at  the  Catholic 
Mission,  the  Cayuses  assembled  in  grand  council  held  by  Tawatowe  (or 
Young  Chief),  Tilokaikt,  Achekaia  (or  Five  Crows),  and  Camaspelo,  all 
the  great  chiefs  of  the  Cayuses,  in  presence  of  many  other  great  men 
(second  chiefs)  of  the  nation."  This  council  was  held  just  three 
months  and  three  days  after.  Brouillet  says  "  that  Bishop  Blanchet 
met  Dr.  Whitman  at  Wallawalla,  and  said  to  him,  "  All  is  known,  I 
come  to  labor  for  the  conversion  of  Indians,  and  even  of  Americans, 
if  they  are  willing  to  listen  to  me."  And  we  say,  to  crush  and  drive 
the  Protestant  missions  from  the  country,  including  their  heretical 
settlements. 

We  wish  to  give  these  foreign  priests  the  full  benefit  of  their  own  state 
ments,  as  we  shall  express  fully  our  opinion  of  them ;  besides,  we  presume 
that  not  one  in  a  thousand  will  be  able  to  understand  the  wonderful 
workings  of  Jesuitism  among  the  Indians  and  the  people  of  our  coun 
try,  without  extensive  quotations  from  their  books. 

The  narrative  continues  :  "About  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  they  all 
entered  the  mission  house.  The  bishop  was  present,  together  with 
Messrs.  Rousseau,  Leclaire,  and  myself  [Vicar-General  Brouillet,  the 
writer  of  the  narrative  we  are  quoting  from].  After  a  deep  silence 
of  some  minutes,  the  bishop  explained  to  them  the  object  of  the  meeting. 
He  began  by  expressing  to  them  the  pleasure  he  felt  in  seeing  them 
thus  assembled  for  the  purpose  of  deliberating  on  a  most  important 
subject, — that  of  avoiding  war,  which  is  always  a  great  evil.  He  told 
them  that  in  matters  of  importance  they  should  always  hold  a  council 
and  consult  those  who  might  be  best  able  to  give  them  good  advice  ; 
that  in  giving  their  advice  separately,  they  were  liable  to  be  misunder 
stood,  and  thereby  expose  themselves  and  their  people  to  great  misfor 
tunes  ;  that  he  was  persuaded  that  if  the  chiefs  had  deliberated  together 
they  would  not  now  have  to  deplore  the  horrible  massacre  of  Wailatpu, 
nor  to  fear  its  probable  consequences." 

The  reader  can  understand  how  sincere  these  "  holy  fathers  "  were 
in  saying  "  horrible  massacre  at  Wailatpu,"  when,  instead  of  calling  on 
Dr.  Whitman,  as  Brouillet  says  he  "  cordially  promised  to  do,"  he  went 
to  an  Indian  lodge,  learned  of  the  massacre,  and  remained  all  night, 
writing,  the  Indians  say,  this  false  and  infamous  account  of  the  transac- 


506  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

tion,  to  slander  the  dead  and  clear  the  guilty ;  and  the  next  morning 
baptized  three  of  the  Indian  children  before  going  to  the  assistance  of 
the  widows  and  orphans. 

The  bishop  told  them  "  that  two  Nez  Perce  chiefs  had  asked  him  to 
write  to  the  great  chief  of  Wallamet  (Governor  Abernethy)  to  obtain 
peace,  but  that  he  could  not  do  so  without  the  consent  of  the  Cayuses." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  up  to  the  arrival  of  Dr.  White,  in  1842,  as 
an  official  spy  upon  the  proceedings  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
drawing  the  pay  of  a  sub-Indian  agent,  the  company  had  not  allowed 
any  effort  to  combine  the  Indians ;  but  on  the  arrival  of  Dr.  White, 
they  at  once  made  use  of  him,  and  also  of  the  bishop  and  his  priests,  to 
form  just  the  combinations  they  wished  to  make  use  of,  to  strike  at  the 
settlements  at  the  proper  time. 

Tawatowe,  or  Young  Chief,  was,  up  to  the  time  of  the  taking  of  Fort 
Nez  Perces,  considered  a  head  chief;  but  in  consequence  of  the  part  he 
had  taken  in  that  affair  his  power  had  been  broken.  His  brother,  Five 
Crows,  was  advanced,  and  had  become  "the  favorite  of  Dr.  Whitman, 
as  well  as  of  Dr.  White,  and  was  looked  upon  as  friendly  to  the  mission 
and  the  American  cause.  Miss  Bewletfs  being  forced  to  become  his  wife 
was  a  part  of  the  scheme  to  involve  him  in  the  war  then  in  contempla 
tion,  and  to  bring  about  a  union  of  the  tribe  under  the  very  plausible 
reason  given  by  this  "  holy  father"  and  was  one  of  the  most  important 
measures  to  implicate  that  humane  and  Protestant  Indian  in  the  war 
measure  now  in  discussion  before  this  grand  Indian  council  at  the  house 
of  the  bishop.  The  bishop  says  "that  the  propositions  which  those 
chiefs  wished  to  send  were  these :  1st.  That  Americans  should  not  come 
to  make  war ;  2d.  That  they  should  send  up  two  or  three  great  men  to 
make  a  treaty  of  peace  ;  3d.  That  when  these  great  men  should  arrive, 
all  the  captives  should  be  released  ;  4th.  That  they  would  offer  no 
offense  to  Americans  before  knowing  the  news  from  below. 

"  The  bishop  then  desired  them  to  speak  and  to  say  what  they  thought 
of  these  propositions. 

"  Camaspelo  spoke  first.  He  said  he  was  blind  and  ignorant,  and  had 
despaired  of  the  life  and  salvation  of  his  nation,  but  that  the  words  of 
the  bishop  had  opened  his  eyes,  consoled  and  encouraged  him  ;  that  he 
had  confidence,  and  that  he  approved  the  propositions. 

"The  chief  Tilokaikt  then  rose  to  say  that  he  was  not  a  great 
speaker,  and  that  his  talk  would  not  be  long.  He  then  reviewed  the 
history  of  the  nation  since  the  arrival  of  the  whites  (French  people  or 
Hudson's  Bay  Company)  in  the  country  down  to  the  present  time.  He 
said  that  before  they  had  been  visited  by  white  men  the  Indians  were 
always  at  war  ;  that  at  the  place  where  Fort  Wallawalla  now  stood 


INDIAN  COUNCIL.  507 

nothing  but  blood  was  continually  seen  ;  that  they  had  been  taught  by 
the  whites  that  there  was  a  God  who  forbids  men  to  kill  each  other." 
"A  jewel  of  gold  in  a  swine's  snout."  This  is  the  Indian  that  assisted 
in  killing  Dr.  Whitman,  and  engaged  his  attention  while  his  companion 
gave  the  first  blow ;  and  he  afterward  cut  the  Doctor's  face  horribly 
with  a  hatchet,  while  he  was  yet  alive.  But  let  us  continue  this  "  holy 
father's  "  lesson  of  peace  and  morality  from  the  mouth  of  his  converted 
Indian,  for  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  he  is  now  fully  converted 
to  that  faith,  and  has  given  us  a  specimen  in  the  practice  of  the  religion 
he  has  just  commenced  to  learn.  He  says,  "  that  since  this  time  they 
had  always  lived  in  peace,  and  endeavored  to  persuade  others  to  do  the 
same.  He  eulogized  Mr.  Fambrun ;  spoke  of  a  Nez  Perce  chief  who 
had  been  killed  when  going  to  the  States  ;  afterward  of  the  son  of  Yel 
low  Serpent,  who  had  been  killed  by  Americans  in  California ;  said  that 
that  they  had  forgotten  all  this.  He  spoke  also  of  Dr.  Whitman  and 
Mr.  Spalding,  and  finished  by  saying  that  since  they  had  forgotten  all, 
he  hoped  that  the  Americans  would  also  forget  what  had  been  recently 
done  ;  that  now  they  were  even." 

This  priest  is  careful  to  make  his  converted  Indian  tell  a  plausible 
story,  as  also  to  eulogize  Mr.  Pambrun  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
and  to  state  that  two  Indians  had  been  killed  while  in  company  with, 
or  by  Americans. 

As  to  the  killing  of  the  Nez  Perce  chief  (so  called),  we  know  much 
more  of  it  than  this  priest  or  his  Indian.  The  Nez  Perce  was  killed  in 
open  fight  with  the  Sioux,  at  Ash  Hollow,  on  the  Platte  River,  after  the 
party  had  fought  three  hours,  and  killed  fifteen  and  wounded  eight  of 
the  Sioux.  He  was  no  connection  of  this  Cayuse  tribe,  and  is  only 
referred  to  for  effect.  The  bishop  makes  Tilokaikt  tell  a  falsehood  to 
shield  a  crime  in  himself  and  associates. 

The  killing  of  Elijah,  the  son  of  Yellow  Serpent,  is  equally  false  in  the 
statement  of  the  fact,  and  relation  of  the  circumstances.  Dr.  White, 
sub-Indian  agent,  etc.,  was  never  known  to  tell  the  truth  when  a  false 
hood  would  suit  his  plans  and  purposes  better ;  as  is  evident  in  this 
case,  which  is  given  that  the  reader  may  judge  of  its  truth.  Mr. 
Brouillet  comments  upon  Dr.  White's  letter  to  the  Department  at 
Washington,  April  4,  1845,  as  follows:  "After  speaking  of  some  diffi 
culties  that  occurred  in  California  between  the  Cayuses  and  Walla- 
wallas  on  one  part,  and  the  Spaniards  and  Americans  on  the  other,  on 
account  of  some  stolen  horses  that  the  Cayuses  and  Wallawallas  had 
taken  from  hostile  Indians  by  fighting  them  [this  is  altogether  a  mis 
take,  as  the  horses  belonged  to  the  Americans  and  Spaniards,  and  they 
had  their  Indians  guarding  them,  and  the  party  here  referred  to  killed  the 


508  HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 

guard  and  attempted  the  life  of  an  American],  Mr.  White  passes  on 
to  relate  a  murder  there,  committed  coolly  by  an  American  the  fall 
previous  upon  the  person  of  Elijah,  the  son  of  Yellow  Serpent,  the 
chief  of  the  Walla  wallas,  in  the  following  way  :  '  The  Indians  had  gone 
to  the  fort  of  Captain  Sutter  to  church,  and,  after  service,  Elijah  was 
invited  into  another  apartment,  taking  with  him  his  uncle,  Young 
Chief,  of  the  Umatilla  River,  a  brave  and  sensible  chief  of  the  age  of 
five  and  forty.'"  This  priest,  on  page  30  (J.  Ross  Browne,  page  28), 
makes  Mr.  McKinley  say  that  in  the  fall  of  1844,  the  Indians,  a  short 
time  after  their  return  from  California,  met  one  day  at  Fort  Walla- 
walla,  seven  hundred  in  number,  all  armed,  and  decided  to  walk  down 
immediately  upon  the  colony  of  the  Wallamet,  and  that  they  could 
be  stopped  only  by  the  Young  Chief,  who,  by  his  entreaties,  decided 
them  to  abandon  their  undertaking,  and  to  go  home.  We  are  led  to 
inquire,  why  did  not  these  Indians,  at  this  time,  direct  their  attention 
to  the  American  missions  in  their  midst,  and  take  their  revenge  then, 
instead  of  waiting  three  years,  and  then,  as  Brouillet  says,  making  this 
murder  a  cause  of  the  massacre  ?  McBean,  and  Bishop  Blanchet  and 
his  priests,  were  not  then  at  the  fort,  nor  among  those  Indians,  to  aid 
them  in  avenging  themselves  on  the  innocent. 

But  let  us  finish  the  account  of  this  horrid  transaction  on  the  part 
of  our  countrymen,  as  repeated  by  Brouillet  to  excuse  the  Wailatpu 
massacre. 

He  says  the  Young  Chief  went  into  the  room  with  Elijah,  and 
"while  there  in  an  unarmed  and  defenseless  condition,  they  commenced 
menacing  him  for  things  alleged  against  the  River  Indians  of  this  upper 
country,  in  which  none  of  them  had  any  participation ;  called  them 
indiscriminately  dogs,  thieves,  etc."  The  truth  is,  that  this  party  went 
from  the  Cayuse  country  to  California  expressly  to  steal  horses  and 
cattle.  This  same  educated  Indian  boy  was  the  leader  of  the  party  in 
going  to  the  fort.  He  and  the  Young  Chief  were  both  arrested,  and 
tried  by  a  military  court ;  the  chief  was  acquitted,  upon  the  evidence  of 
the  American  referred  to,  as  he  saved  his  life,  while  Elijah  was  for  kill 
ing  him.  Elijah  was  condemned,  and  shot,  to  prevent  other  similar 
parties  from  disturbing  the  settlements  and  killing  peaceable  Indians  in 
California.  This  is  the  reason,  as  Mr.  McKinley  doubtless  told  Brouil 
let,  why  the  Young  Chief  used  his  influence  to  prevent  any  attempt  at 
retaliation. 

The  narrative  continues :  "  This  American  then  observed,  '  Yesterday 
you  were  going  to  kill  me ;  now  you  must  die/  and  drawing  a  pistol — 
Elijah,  who  had  been  five  or  six  years  at  the  Methodist  Mission,  and 
had  learned  to  read,  write,  and  speak  English  respectably,  said 


ELIJAH   SHOT  AT  SUTTEE'S  FORT.  509 

deliberately,  '  Let  me  pray  a  little  first ;'  and  kneeling  down,  at  once 
commenced,  and,  when  invoking  the  Divine  mercy,  was  shot  through 
the  heart  or  vitals,  dead  upon  the  spot.  Taking  for  truth  an  Indian 
report  [which  in  this  case  suited  this  priest  and  Dr.  White's  purposes 
better  than  a  true  statement  of  the  facts  would],  this  horrible  affair 
created  considerable  excitement  [which,  he  tells  us  in  another  place, 
the  Young  Chief,  who  was  present,  was  able  to  quell],  and  there  is 
some  danger  of  its  disturbing  the  friendly  relations  that  hitherto  ex 
isted  between  us  here  and  all  those  formidable  tribes  in  the  region  of 
Wallawalla  and  Snake  River." 

This  Indian  story  or  tragedy  is  useful  for  three  purposes.  First,  to 
show  Dr.  White's  disposition  to  have  his  -importance  known  to  the 
department  at  Washington.  Second,  to  show  the  disposition  of  this 
"  holy  father,  the,  Catholic,  priest"  to  quote  a  case  of  the  kind,  to  jus 
tify  the  Whitman  massacre  by  the  Indians,  and  deceive  his  readers 
and  the  world  as  to  the  real  cause  of  that  transaction ;  thus  aiding  us 
in  bringing  home  the  guilt  of  a  crime  where  it  belongs.  Third,  to 
show  how  capable  he  is  of  misrepresenting  and  falsifying  historical 
facts,  to  excuse  a  foul  murder  of  American  citizens.  He  continues  to 
.  quote  Dr.  White  as  follows  : — 

"  Learning  from  Dr.  Whitman,  who  resides  in  their  midst,  how 
much  they  were  all  excited  by  reason  of  the  treacherous  and  violent 
death  of  this  educated  and  accomplished  young  chief,  and.  perhaps, 
more  especially  by  the  loss  they  had  sustained,  and  then,  after  suffer 
ing  so  many  hardships  and  encountering  so  many  dangers,  losing  the 
whole,  I  apprehended  there  might  be  much  difficulty  in  adjusting  it,  par 
ticularly  as  they  lay  much  stress  upon  the  restless,  disaffected  scamps, 
late  from  Wallamet  to  California,  loading  them  with  the  vile  epithets 
of  dogs,  thieves,  etc.,  from  which  they  believed  or  affected  to  believe 
that  the  slanderous  reports  of  our  citizens  caused  all  their  loss  and 
disasters,  and  therefore  held  us  responsible.  He,  Ellis,  the  Nez  Perce 
chief,  assured  me  that  the  Cayuses,  Wallawallas,  N~ez  Perces,  Spokans, 
Ponderays,  and  Snakes  were  all  on  terms  of  amity,  and  that  a  portion 
of  the  aggrieved  party  were  for  raising  a  party  of  about  two  thousand 
warriors  of  those  formidable  tribes,  and  march  to  California  at  once,* 
and,  nobly  revenging  themselves  on  the  inhabitants  by  capture  and 
plunder,  enrich  themselves  upon  the  spoils ;  while  others,  not  indisposed 
to  the  enterprise,  wished  first  to  learn  how  it  would  be  regarded  here, 
and  whether  we  would  remain  neutral  in  the  affair.  A  third  party 

*  Brouillet,  in  his  haste  to  bring  Dr.  White  to  prove  his  statements  of  the  causes 
of  the  Whitman  massacre,  has  forgotten  that  he  was  assured  by  Mr.  McKinley  that 
they  intended  to  go  to  the  Wallamet,  instead  of  California. 


510  HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 

were  for  holding  us  responsible,  as  Elijah  was  killed  by  an  American, 
and  the  Americans  incensed  the  Spaniards."* 

The  above  extract  is  quoted  by  Brouillet  for  so  base  a  purpose,  that 
it  seems  necessary,  in  order  to  correct  the  errors  of  Dr.  White  and 
this  priest,  to  give  it  in  full.  We  have  given  the  statement  of  Mr. 
McKinley,  as  quoted  by  Brouillet,  which  shows  the  absurdity  of  this 
whole  document.  If  the  Young  Chief  went  into  the  room  and  saw 
Elijah  shot  down  in  the  brutal  manner  represented  by  Dr.  White,  he 
certainly  must  have  been  a  very  remarkable  and  forgiving  Indian  if  he 
used  his  influence  to  prevent  his  tribe  from  seeking  revenge ;  besides, 
we  find  in  the  subsequent  history,  that  even  Elijah's  own  father  did  not 
seek  to  avenge  his  death,  as  stated  by  this  priest  on  page  30  of  this 
narrative  (28th  of  Ross  Browne's  report). 

He  says:  "  And  in  the  spring  of  1847,  the  Wallawalla  chief  himself, 
Yellow  Serpent,  started  with  a  party  of  Wallawallas  and  Cayuses  for 
the  purpose  of  attacking  the  Americans  in  California,  whom  they 
thought  unsuspicious.  But  having  found  them  on  their  guard,  and  too 
strong  to  be  attacked  without  danger,  he  took  their  part  against  the 
Spaniards,  offered  his  services  to  them,  and  fought  in  their  ranks." 

This,  with  the  statement  of  Mr.  McBean,  as  will  be  given  in  his 
letter,  shows  that  this  very  Rev.  Father  Brouillet  knew  nothing  of  \ 
the  subject  he  was  writing  about,  and  was  ready  to  pick  up  any  state 
ment  that  might  be  made,  without  any  regard  to  its  absurdity  or 
plausibility.  I  query  whether  there  is  a  living  man  well  acquainted 
with  Dr.  White,  who  will  state  that  he  believes  he  would  tell  the  truth, 
officially  or  otherwise,  when  a  falsehood  would  suit  his  purposes  better ; 
and  from  a  careful  study  of  the  statements  and  writings  of  this  rev 
erend  priest.,  we  are  forced  to  the  same  conclusion. 

Rev.  Mr.  Brouillet  has  filled  four  pages  and  a  half  of  his  narrative 
with  the  statements  of  William  Craig,  in  answer  to  questions  asked  by 
Hon.  P.  H.  Burnett,  all  of  which  show  that  Mr.  Craig  knew  nothing 
of  the  massacre  only  as  he  was  told,  by  two  Indians,  what  some  other 
Indian  said  that  some  other  Indian  had  said.  We  are  not  surprised 
that  Mr.  Burnett  gave  up  the  contest  with  Mr.  Spalding,  after  examin 
ing  such  a  witness  as  Mr.  Craig,  and  finding  that  he  knew  so  little 
relative  to  the  subject  in  question.  Suppose  Tom  Hill  and  the  Indian 
messenger  that  brought  the  news  to  Mr.  Spalding's  station  told  all 
they  heard  of  the  matter,  did  that  make  their  statements  true  ?  Or  did 
the  repeating  of  these  Indian  statements  by  Mr.  Craig  make  them  true  ? 
Rev.  Father  Brouillet  has  showed,  in  these  four  pages,  a  weakness  we 

*  See  the  whole  of  Dr.  White's  report,  chapter  50,  page  387  et  seq. 


BROUILLET'S  STATEMENTS  CORRECTED.  5H 

did  not  expect  to  find  in  a  man  with  so  many  sacred  titles  to  his  name. 
In  fact,  the  greater  part  of  his  statements  are  from  persons  who  make 
them  as  coming  second-hand  from  the  Indians.  He  makes  Mr.  Craig 
repeat  from  the  mouth  of  the  Indian  messenger  the  statement  first  pub 
lished  in  Sir  James  Douglas's  letter  to  the  Sandwich  Islands ;  and  then 
in  conclusion  says,  on  page  29  : — 

"  Now  I  am  satisfied  that  every  impartial  and  unprejudiced  per 
son,  after  reading  attentively  the  above  documents,  will  come  with 
me  to  the  conclusion  that  the  true  causes,  both  remote  and  immediate, 
of  the  whole  evil  must  have  been  the  following:  1st.  The  promise 
made  by  Mr.  Parker  to  the  Cayuses  and  Nez  Perces  of  paying  for 
their  lands  every  year,  and  the  want  of  fulfillment  of  that  promise." 

Which  promise  Mr.  Parker  never  made,  and  which  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  and  these  Roman  priests  made  up  to  cause  difficulty 
with  the  Indians  and  American  missions  and  settlements. 

"  2d.  The  death  of  the  Nez  Perce  chief,  killed  on  his  way  to  the 
United  States,  when  he  was  in  company  with  Mr.  Gray,  and  in  his  ser 
vice."  This  Mr.  Gray  knows  to  be  false,  both  in  statement  and  infer 
ence,  as  already  explained. 

This  priest  says:  "The  conclusion  is  evident,  from  the  circumstances 
which  preceded  that  death,  and  from  the  proceedings  of  the  Nez  Perces 
against  Mr.  Spalding  and  all  the  people  of  his  establishment  on  account 
of  it,  and  likewise  from  the  general  habit  of  the  Indians  in  such  cases." 

We  will  here  state  that  we  were  two  years  at  Mr.  Spalding's  station, 
on  returning  from  the  States,  and  saw  the  whole  Nez  Perce  tribe,  and 
employed  them  for  days  and  months,  and  worked  with  them,  and  ex 
plored  their  country  to  select  farms  for  them,  and  know  that  the  Nez 
Perces  never,  on  any  occasion,  made  the  least  disturbance  about  the 
station,  or  in  any  other  place,  on  account  of  the  death  of  that  Indian  ; 
and  we  know  that  neither  Mr.  Spalding  nor  any  of  the  people  at  his 
place  were  ever  confined  in  their  houses  for  an  hour  on  account  of  it ; 
and  we  further  know  that  the  statement  made  by  Brouillet,  as  coming 
from  old  Toupin,  is  false  and  malicious,  and  only  shows  the  ignorance 
and  malice  of  this  priest,  who  has  made  these  false  statements,  as  he 
has  those  about  the  killing  of  Elijah,  to  cover  his  own  guilt  in  the  in 
famous  crime  charged  upon  him  and  his  associates. 

"  3d.  The  murder  committed  by  an  American  in  California  on  the 
person  of  Elijah,  the  son  of  the  Wallawalla  chief,  in  1844."  An 
swered  already. 

This  priest  says  of  Yellow  Serpent :  "  On  his  way  coming  back  from 
California  he  lost  many  of  his  people  from  sickness  [to  which  Istacus 
alludes  in  his  reasons  for  not  believing  that  Dr.  Whitman  was  the  cause 


512  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

of  the  Indians  dying  by  poison],  so  that  he  and  his  young  men,  when 
arrived  at  home  in  the  fall,  felt  more  ill-disposed  than  ever  toward  the 
Americans."  This  priest's  fourth  reason  embraces  the  tales  told  by  Tom 
Hill,  Joe  Lewis,  Finlay,  old  Toupin,  and  Stanfield,  which  are  all  of  the 
same  class,  and  have  all  been  learned  from  the  same  reverend  teachers, 
and  copied  into  Sir  James  Douglas's  letter,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Ameri 
can  Board,  going  by  way  of  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

His  fifth  reason,  about  the  small-pox,  as  stated  by  Craig — the  Doctor 
and  Gray's  poisoning  melons — the  Doctor  being  a  physician,  shows 
that  he  is  terribly  pressed  for  a  plausible  reason  for  the  crime  he 
attempts  to  excuse.  His  sixth  reason — lack  of  sincerity.  Here  he  quotes 
Mr.  Spalding's  letter,  written  soon  after  his  return  home,  after  being  ex 
posed  six  days  and  nights  to  extreme  fatigue,  hunger,  and  cold, — his 
mind  racked  with  anxiety  and  fear  in  regard  to  himself  and  family, 
and  tortured  with  thoughts  of  the  scene  at  Wailatpu ;  being  igno 
rant  of  any  of  the  particulars  of  the  massacre,  and  of  the  part  the 
bishop  and  his  priests  were  taking  in  it,  he  wrote  as 'to  friends  whom 
he  thought  would  feel  for  his  situation.  He  also  quotes  a  letter  he 
received  through  P.  H.  Burnett,  signed  J.  Magone,  who  says :  "  I 
recollect  distinctly,  however,  that  he  (Mr.  Spalding)  was  not  in  favor 
of  killing  all  the  Cayuses,  for  he  gave  me  names  of  some  four  or  five 
that  he  knew  to  be  friendly,  and  another  whom  I  marked  as  ques 
tionable."  (Mr.  S.  had  learned  more  of  the  particulars  of  the  mas 
sacre.)  Does  this  letter  prove  that  he  was  in  favor  of  killing  all  the 
Indians  but  the  ones  mentioned,  or  does  it  show  his  anxiety  lest  the 
innocent  should  perish  with  the  guilty,  which  led  him  to  give  those 
names  to  Major  Magone,  an  officer  in  the  provisional  army  ? 

We  have  naturally  left  that  deep,  silent  grand  council  of  Indians, 
presided  over  by  his  reverence,  Bishop  Blanchet,  and  directed  our  at 
tention  to  other  important  facts  and  statements  relative  to  the  subject 
of  this  chapter. 

"We  now  have  the  touching  appeal  of  Edward  Tilokaikt,  with  whom 
the  reader  has  become  acquainted  in  the  depositions  already  given.  Pie 
is  now  brought  before  us  in  this  grand  council  at  the  bishop's  house 
(page  66  of  Brouillet ;  page  44  Ross  Browne). 

"  Edward,  the  son  of  Tilokaikt,  then  came  forward,  bearing  in  his 
hand  the  Catholic  Ladder  stained  with  blood  ;  he  repeated  the  words 
which  Dr.  Whitman  had  used  when  he  showed  it  to  them,  one  or  two 
weeks  before  he  died:  '  You  see  this  blood!  it  is  to  show  you  that 
now,  because  you  have  the  priests  among  you,  the  country  is  going  to 
be  covered  with  blood  f  You  will  have  nothing  now  but  blood  P  He 
then  related  what  had  passed,  gave  a  touching  picture  of  the  afflicted 


DATES   OF   LETTERS.  513 

families  in  seeing  borne  to  the  grave  a  father,  a  mother,  a  brother,  or  a 
sister ;  spoke  of  a  single  member  of  a  family  who  had  been  left  to  weep 
alone  over  all  the  rest,  who  had  disappeared.  He  stated  how  and  for 
what  the  murder  had  been  committed,  entered  into  the  most  minute 
details,  avoiding,  however,  to  give  any  knowledge  of  the  guilty,  re 
peated  the  words  which  Joseph  Lewis  said  had  passed  between  Dr. 
Whitman,  his  wife,  and  Mr.  Spalding,  and  finally  spoke  of  the  pretend 
ed  declaration  of  Mr.  Rogers  at  the  moment  of  his  death :  '  that  Dr. 
Whitman  had  been  poisoning  the  Indians.'  " 

Reader,  need  I  tell  you  that  the  language  and  sentiment  above  quoted 
as  coming  from  Edward  Tilokaikt,  never  entered  his  savage  Indian 
brain ;  that  this  speech  is  the  carefully  combined  and  studied  produc 
tion  of  the  author  of  the  narrative  we  have  quoted  it  from  ?  It  is  given 
in  connection,  repeated  and  combined  with  a  little  variation,  by  every 
individual  who  makes  a  statement  favorable  to  those  priests ;  and  in 
the  whole  list  of  statements  this  priest  Brouillet  and  McBean  are  the 
only  two  that  could  write  or  translate  the  Indian  ideas  into  French  or 
English ;  so  that  at  the  time  these  Indian  speeches  were  said  to  have 
been  made,  and  purport  to  have  been  translated  by  Brouillet,  it  is  plain 
to  be  seen  that  he  tells  his  own  story  to  suit  the  case  in  hand  ;  and  the 
letter  of  Sir  James  Douglas  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  shows  this  priest 
to  be  the  author  of  the  statements  contained  therein.  These  Indian 
assemblies  or  councils  were  held  to  more  closely  unite  the  tribe,  and 
give  a  coloring  of* truth  to  the  malicious  statements  of  Joe  Lewis  and 
Edward  Tilokaikt. 

All  these  false  statements  were  written  out  and  sent  to  the  Sand 
wich  Islands  under  date,  Vancouver,  9th  December,  1847,  while  Brouil 
let  says  this  Edward  Tilokaikt  repeated  them  as  a  reason  for  the  mas 
sacre  on  the  20th  December,  1847,  eleven  days  before  they  are  said 
to  have  been  repeated  by  the  Indians. 

Many  important  facts  can  only  be  reached  by  carefully  studying  the 
language  of  this  priest,  in  connection  with  the  evidence  obtained  from 
the  survivors,  and  their  subsequent  conduct,  and  the  foreign  corres 
pondence  of  the  parties  who  were  seeking  the  exclusive  occupation  of 
our  country. 

From  the  statement  that  follows,  it  will  be  seen  how  careful  this  Jesuit 
is  to  inform  us  that  these  propositions  come  from  the  N"ez  Perces. 

He  says,  on  page  65 :  "  After  having  deliberated  together,  the  chiefs 
,  concluded  by  adding  something  to  the  propositions  of  the  Nez  Perces, 
insisting  principally  upon  the  reasons  which  they  pretended  ought  to 
excuse  their  action,  and  requested  the  bishop  to  send  to  the  governor  in 
their  name  the  following  manifesto." 
33 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


Before  copying  this  important  document  and  the  letter  which  accom 
panied  it  to  the  governor  of  Oregon,  we  will  place  before  our  readers 
the  "preface"  to  the  book  in  which  we  find  it,  that  they  may  see  the 
full  object  of  the  author  of  that  narrative  in  publishing  it  :— 


YORK,  June,  1853. 
"  The  following  interesting  narrative  was  prepared  by  the  very  Rev. 
Mr.  Brouillet,  vicar-general  of  Wallawalla,  at  the  time  of  the  excite 
ment  consequent  on  the  murder  of  Dr.  Whitman  by  the  Indians,  and 
in  answer  to  Mr.  Spalding,  and  other  of  Dr.  Whitman's  former  associ 
ates.  Although  the  immediate  occasion  has  passed  away,  it  is  proper, 
still,  to  put  the  facts  of  the  case  on  record  ;  and  these  pages,  which 
appeared  recently  in  the  columns  of  the  New  York  Freemarfs  Journal, 
will  form  an  interesting  and  authentic  chapter  in  the  history  of 
Protestant  missions.  "  J.  A.  MCMASTERS." 

We  will  now  turn  to  the  65th  page  of  this  false  and  malicious  narra 

tive,  and  find  a  document  carefully  prepared,  as  stated  by  its  author,  in 

grand    council    assembled  under   the    eye    of  Bishop  Blanchet,  then 

bishop  of  Wallawalla,  by  the  very  Rev.   Mr.  Brouillet,   etc.     By  a 

cursory  glance  at  this  narrative  and  document,  it  will  be  seen  that  it 

is  prepared   as  coming  from  the  Indians  for  the  express  purpose  of 

blackening  the  character  of  Dr.  Whitman,  his  wife,  Mr.  Spalding,  and 

Mr.  Rogers,  and  of  charging  them  with  being  the  cause  of  their  own 

murder,  and  the  murder  of  all  who  fell  at  Wailatpu  by  the  hands  of 

their  own  Indians,  the  Cayuses.     That  it  embodies  all  the  foul  slanders 

against  those   missions  that  have  been  collected  for  a  series  of  years, 

and  asserts  them  to  be  true,  without  a  single  deposition  or  statement 

having  been  made  before  any  court  or  justice  of  peace,  known  to  the 

laws  then  in  the  country.     These  statements,  from  preface  to  finis,  go 

upon  the  presumption  that  the  title  and  professions  of  the  men  whose 

names  are  attached  are  sufficient  evidence  of  the  truth  of  any  statements 

they  may   make,  however  unreasonable  or  false   they  may  be.     The 

documents  above  referred  to  are  as  follows  (J.  R.  Browne,  page  45)  :  — 

"  The  principal  chiefs  of  the  Cayuses,  in  council  assembled,  state  :  That 

a  young  Indian   (Joseph  Lewis)    who  understands  English,  and  who 

slept  in  Dr.  Witman's  room,  heard  the  Doctor,  his  wife,  and  Mr.  Spal 

ding  express  their  desire  of  possessing  the   lands  and  animals  of  the 

Indians  ;   that  he  stated  also  that  Mr.  Spalding  said  to  the  Doctor, 

'Hurry  giving  medicines  to  the  Indians,  that  they  may  soon  die;'  that 

the  same  Indian  told  the  Cayuses,  '  If  you  do  not  kill  the  Doctor  soon, 

you  will  all  be  dead  before  spring  ;'  that  they  buried   six  Cayuses  on 


INDIAN   MANIFESTO.  515 

Sunday,  November  28,  and  three  the  next  day ;  that  Mr.  Rogers,  the 
schoolmaster,  stated  to  them  before  he  died  that  the  Doctor,  his  wife, 
and  Mr.  Spalding  poisoned  the  Indians ;  that  for  several  years  past  they 
had  to  deplore  the  death  of  their  children ;  and  that,  according  to  these 
reports,  they  were  led  to  believe  that  the  whites  had  undertaken  to  kill 
them  all ;  and  that  these  were  the  motives  which  led  them  to  kill  the 
Americans.  The  same  chiefs  ask  at  present — 

"  1st.  That  the  Americans  may  not  go  to  war  with  the  Cayuses. 

"  2d.  That  they  may  forget  the  lately  committed  murders,  as  the 
Cayuses  will  forget  the  murder  of  the  son  of  the  great  chief  of  Walla- 
walla,  committed  in  California. 

"3d.  That  two  or  three  great  men  may  come  up  to  conclude  peace. 

"  4th.  That  as  soon  as  these  great  men  have  arrived  and  concluded 
peace,  they  may  take  with  them  all  the  women  and  children. 

"5th.  They  give  assurance  that  they  will  not  harm  the  Americans 
before  the  arrival  of  these  two  or  three  great  men. 

"  6th.  They  ask  that  Americans  may  not  travel  any  more  through 
their  country,  as  their  young  men  might  do  them  harm. 

"  (Signed,)  "  TILOKAIKT. 

"  CAMASPELO. 
"  TAWATOWE. 
"  ACHEKAIA. 

"  PLACE  OF  TAWATOWE,  UMATILLA,  December  20,  1847." 

"  The  bishop  accompanied  this  manifesto  with  a  letter  addressed  to 
the  governor,  which  concluded  in  these  terms :  '  It  is  sufficient  to  state 
that  all  these  speeches  went  to  show,  that  since  they  had  been  instructed 
by  the  whites  they  abhorred  war,  and  that  the  tragedy  of  the  29th  had 
occurred  from  an  anxious  desire  of  self-preservation,  and  that  it  was 
the  reports  made  against  the  Doctor  and  others  which  led  them  to  com 
mit  this  act.  Tliey  desire  to  have  the  past  forgotten  and  to  live  in  peace 
as  before.  Your  excellency  has  to  judge  of  the  value  of  the  documents 
which  I  have  been  requested  to  forward  to  you.  Nevertheless,  without 
having  the  least  intention  to  influence  one  way  or  the  other,  I  feel  my 
self  obliged  to  tellyou^ih&t  by  going  to  war  with  the  Cayuses,  you  will 
likely  have  all  the  Indians  of  this  country  against  you.  Would  it  be 
for  the  interest  of  a  young  colony  to  expose  herself  f  That  you  will 
have  to  decide  with  your  council.'  " 

Reader,  you  now  have  before  you  a  full  statement  of  the  most  impor 
tant  facts  of  the  Whitman  massacre,  and  of  the  part  taken  in  it  by 
11  the  holy  fathers,  the  Catholic  priests ,"  as  they  were  styled  by  Mr.  Mc- 
Bean,  of  Fort  Nez  Perces,  to  Mr.  Kimzey  and  his  wife. 


516  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

The  part  taken  by  Mr.  McBean,  Mr.  Ogden,  and  Sir  James  Douglas, 
will  be  given  in  another  chapter. 

The  above  manifesto  is  given  as  having  been  made  on  the  20th  of 
December,  1847.  On  the  23d,  three  days  after,  when  this  very  Rev. 
Mr.  Brouillet  mounted  his  horse  to  go  to  the  fort,  he  told  Miss  Bewley 
that  "if  she  went  to  Five  Crows'  lodge  any  more  she  must  not  come 
back  to  his  house."  Miss  Bewley  says :  "  The  bishop  told  me  I  had 
better  go.  *  *  *  The  bishop  sent  an  Indian  with  me ;  he  took  me  to 
Five  Crows'  lodge.  *  *  *  The  bishop  finally  ordered  me  to  go. 
*  *  *  I  found  I  could  get  no  help" 

These  are  the  solemn  affirmations  of  this  intelligent  young  American 
lady,  who  was  present  at  the  bishop's  house  when  this  manifesto  was 
prepared. 

Were  this  Bishop  Blanchet  and  his  priests  true  and  sincere  in  what 
they  said,  and  in  the  advice  they  say  they  gave  to  the  Indians  ? 

We  have  now  traced  what  may  be  termed  the  missionary  account  of 
this  painful  tragedy,  as  given  by  both  parties.  Our  readers  must  judge 
for  themselves  as  to  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  all  the  parties  involved, 
and  also  of  the  application  to  our  subject  of  the  extensive  extracts  we 
have  given.  We  will  now  turn  our  attention  to  those  whom  we  con 
ceive  to  be  the  prime  movers,  and,  in  consequence,  the  most  deeply 
implicated  in  this  tragedy. 

We  have  had  occasion  to  allude  to  the  intimate  connection  existing 
between  the  Jesuit  missions  in  Oregon  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany.  As  early  as  1836,  that  company  brought  a  Protestant  Episcopal 
chaplain  to  Vancouver  for  political  reasons,  whom  they  soon  dismissed 
and  attempted  to  disgrace,  as  unworthy  of  belief  in  any  statement  he 
might  make.  Soon  after,  in  the  fall  of  1 838,  two  Roman  priests  arrived 
at  Vancouver  and  took  charge  of  the  religious  and  literary  instructions 
of  the  members  of  the  company, — of  their  children  and  servants,  and,  as 
far  as  possible,  of  all  the  Indians  in  the  country ;  and  while  the  com 
pany  professed  friendship  for  the  American  missionaries,  they  were 
active  and  vigilant  to  defeat  all  their  efforts  to  enlighten  and  civilize 
the  Indians,  enlisting  sufficient  American  influence  to  distract  and 
divide  the  American  people,  so  as  to  cover  up  their  main  object  of 
securing  the  country  for  British  Territory.  This  will  be  seen  by  evi 
dence  already  quoted  from  our  English  authors,  Mr.  Fitzgerald  and  Sir 
Edward  Belcher,  and  the  refusal  of  Sir  James  Douglas  to  aid  the  pro 
visional  government,  or  furnish  supplies  for  their  troops,  and  the  fact 
that  they  did  embrace  every  opportunity  to  supply  the  Indians  with 
guns,  powder,  and  balls,  and  sought  to  combine  the  whole  Indian  power 
and  prejudice  against  the  settlements. 


CHAPTER  LX. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  and  the  priests'  part  in  the  massacre. — McBean's  mes 
senger. — Plot  divulged  to  Hinman,  Ogden,  and  Douglas. — Douglas's  remark  to 
Hinman. — McBean's  letter. — His  perversion  of  facts. — Comments. — Sir  James 
Douglas's  letter  to  Governor  Abernethy. — His  Sandwich  Islands  letter. — Its  false 
hood  and  absurdity. — Mr.  Hinman's  letter  to  G-overnor  Abernethy. — The  dates. — 
Assertion  of  Robert  Newell. — Hudson's  Bay  Company  v.  United  States. 

WE  learn  from  Mr.  McBean's  letter,  given  below,  that  his  horse  guard 
and  interpreter  were  at  Dr.  Whitman's  mission  and  saw  the  dead  bodies ; 
and  from  Indians  we  learn  that  they  were  kept  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Brouillet,  and  took  his  account  of  the  massacre  (which  he  spent  most 
of  the  night  in  preparing)  to  Mr.  McBean.  They  also  reported  to  him 
that  three  parties  of  Indians  were  preparing,  and  about  to  start,  to  de 
stroy  the  remaining  Protestant  missions  and  American  settlements  in 
middle  Oregon,  including  the  station  at  the  Dalles ;  that  the  women 
and  children  were  to  be  held  as  hostages,  or  captives  for  future  dis 
posal  ;  that  letters  and  a  statement  were  prepared  by  Mr.  McBean,  and 
instructions  given  to  his  messenger  that  he  might  inform  the  Indians  on 
his  way  down  to  Vancouver  of  what  had  happened,  but  he  must  not  give 
any  information  to  any  American  on  the  way,  or  at  the  Dalles.  We 
learn  from  the  Hon.  A.  Hinman  that  this  messenger  went  to  him  at  the 
Dalles  station,  and  told  him  that  he  was  sent  by  Mr.  McBean  to  Van 
couver  for  men,  to  replace  such  as  had  died  of  sickness  at  Fort  Nez  Perces. 
The  messenger  took  dinner  with  Mr.  Hinman,  who  went  with  him  to 
the  Indian  lodges,  where  the  messenger  told  the  Indians  of  the  massacre. 
Mr.  Hinman  procured  a  canoe  and  started  with  him  to  go  to  Vancouver. 
They  reached  Cape  Horn,  some  thirty  miles  above  that  place,  and  there, 
while  windbound,  he  informed  Mr.  Hinman  of  what  had  occurred, 
making  a  full  confession,  that  "  the  priests,  Mr.  McBean^  and  lie  were 
bad  in  trying  to  deceive  him  and  have  his  family  and  people  killed  by 
the  Indians ;"  told  of  his  instructions,  and  of  what  was  expected  to  be 
done  with  all  the  Americans  in  the  country,  and  that  he  was  the  bearer 
of  letters  to  Governor  Ogden  from  Mr.  McBean. 

We  will  now  go  with  this  express  to  Vancouver.  Says  the  Hon.  A. 
Hinman,  who  is  still  alive,  and  has  made  oath  to  the  truth  of  his  state 
ments  :  "  We  went  first  to  Mr.  Ogden's  room  and  informed  him  of  the 
massacre.  He  was  shocked,  and  said :  *  Mr.  Hinman,  you  can  now  see 


518  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

what  opposition  in  religion  will  do?  We  then  went  to  Mr.  Douglas's 
room  and  informed  him,  and  when  Mr.  Ogden  was  pacing  the  room,  he 
said  :  '  Mr.  Douglas,  you  see  now  what  opposition  in  religion  does? 
After  a  moment's  pause,  Mr.  Douglas  replied,  '  There  may  be  other 
causes."1 " 

Reader,  will  you  turn  back  and  read  over  the  chapter  on  the  English 
Hudson's  Bay  Company's  effort  to  secure  Oregon,  and  see  if  there  has 
not  been  a  desperate  effort  made,  since  Dr.  McLaughlin  left  that  com 
pany,  to  overcome  his  mistakes  and  his  humane  policy  toward  Ameri 
cans.  Look  also  at  the  chapter  on  the  English  Hudsoii's  Bay  Com 
pany'' s  policy  relative  to  Rupert's  Land  and  Oregon,  and  learn  fully  what 
Mr.  Ogden  and  Mr.  (now  Sir  James)  Douglas  meant  by  these  expressions 
made  to  Mr.  Hinman,  who  says :  "  Mr.  Douglas  turned  to  me,  and 
wished  to  know  why  I  was  not  at  home  at  so  perilous  a  time.  I  told 
him  I  had  received  no  letter  from  Wallawalla,  and  did  not  learn  of  the 
massacre  till  below  the  Cascades.  At  this  he  expressed  surprise,  and 
said,  'Mr.  McBean  ought  by  all  means  to  have  informed  you  of  your 
danger.' 

"  After  this  the  express  was  opened,  and  Mr.  Douglas  read,  and  I  lis 
tened  to  the  account  as  given  by  Mr.  McBean,  and  also  of  his  account 
of  three  parties,  which,  Mr.  McBean's  letter  said,  Indian  report  says  are 
fitting  out,  one  to  the  saw-mill  to  kill  the  Americans  at  that  place,  and 
one  to  Rev.  Mr.  Spalding's  station  to  cut  off  the  Americans  at  that 
place,  and  one  also  to  the  Dalles  to  cut  off  those  at  that  station. 

"  I  said  to  Mr.  Douglas,  '  How  is  it  possible  that  Mr.  McBean  could 
have  treated  me  in  this  way  ?  How  is  it  possible  he  did  not  inform 
me?'  Mr.  Douglas,  after  a  little  pause,  said,  '  Mr.  Hinman,  we  must 
consider  that  the  poor  man  was  in  circumstances  of  great  perplexity ,  and 
might  not  know  what  to  do?  " 

This  was  not  the  case,  for  Mr.  McBean  did  give  him  positive  instruc 
tions,  as  we  learn  from  Mr.  Hinman's  statement.  He  says :  "  After 
hearing  this  dreadful  account  from  the  Canadian,  I  asked  him  why  he 
did  not  inform  me  before  I  left  my  house.  He  said  Mr.  McBean  told 
him  to  say  nothing  about  it  to  them  at  the  Dalles  /" 

Soon  after  the  messenger  and  Mr.  Hinman  left  the  Dalles,  the  Indians 
went  to  the  station  and  informed  P.  Whitman,  the  doctor's  nephew, 
that  his  uncle  and  aunt,  and  all  the  Americans  at  that  place,  were 
killed.  This  Indian  report  was  not  credited  ;  they  could  not  believe 
that  Mr.  McBean  would  send  a  messenger,  as  he  had  done,  and  not 
inform  them  of  what  had  actually  taken  place. 

The  reader  will  remember  the  deposition  of  Mr.  Kimzey  in  relation 
to  Mr.  McBean's  statements  about  the  "holy  fathers,  the  Catholic 


MR.   McBEAN'S  LETTER.  519 

priests,"  and  the  subsequent  instructions  to  him,  to  let  the  Indians  know 
he  was  from  the  fort. 

We  will  now  direct  our  attention  to  the  mutilated  letter  of  William 
McBean,  as  furnished  by  Sir  James  Douglas  to  Governor  Abernethy, 
and  published  in  the  Oregon  Spectator,  December  10,  1849 : — 

"Four  NEZ  PERCYS,  Nov.  30,  1847. 
"  To  the  Board  of  Managers : 

"  GENTLEMEN, — It  is  my  painful  duty  to  make  you  acquainted  with 
a  horrible  massacre  which  took  place  yesterday  at  Wailatpu,  about 
which  I  was  first  apprised,  early  this  morning,  by  an  American  who  had 
escaped,  of  the  name  of  Hall,  and  who  reached  this  place  half-naked 
and  covered  with  blood,  as  he  started  at  the  outset ;  the  information  I 
received  was  not  satisfactory.  He,  however,  assured  me  that  the  Doctor 
and  another  man  were  killed,  but  could  not  tell  us  the  persons  who  did 
it,  and  how  it  originated.  I  immediately  determined  on  sending  my 
interpreter  and  one  man  to  Dr.  Whitman  to  find  out  the  truth,  and,  if 
possible,  to  rescue  Mr.  Hanson's  two  sons  and  any  of  the  survivors.  It 
so  happened  that,  before  the  interpreter  had  proceeded  half-way,  the 
two  boys  were  met  on  their  way  hither,  escorted  by  Nicholas  Finlay, 
it  having  been  previously  settled  among  the  Indians  that  these  boys 
should  not  be  killed  [Mr.  McBean  should  have  added,  as  per  my  in 
structions]  ;  as  also  the  American  women  and  children  [as  per  Joseph 
Stanfield's  direction,  as  he  had  taken  Mrs.  Hays  for  a  wife,  and  several 
Indians  wTere  to  have  the  young  women  at  the  station  for  wives]. 
Tilokaikt  is  the  chief  who  recommended  this  measure.  I  presume  that 
you  are  well  acquainted  that  fever  and  dysentery  have  been  raging  here 
and  in  the  vicinity,  in  consequence  of  which  a  great  number  of  Indians 
have  been  swept  away,  but  more  especially  at  the  Doctor's  place,  where 
he  had  attended  upon  the  Indians.  About  thirty  souls  of  the  Cayuse 
tribe  died,  one  after  another,  who  evidently  believed  the  Doctor  poisoned 
them,  and  in  which  opinion  they  were,  unfortunately,  confirmed  by  one 
of  the  Doctor's  party.  As  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn,  this  has 
been  the  sole  cause  of  the  dreadful  butchery.  In  order  to  satisfy  any 
doubt  on  that  point,  it  is  reported  that  they  requested  the  Doctor  to 
administer  medicine  to  three  of  their  friends,  two  of  whom  were  really 
sick,  but  the  third  feigned  sickness,  and  that  the  three  were  corpses  the 
next  morning.  After  they  were  buried,  and  while  the  Doctor's  men 
were  employed  slaughtering  an  ox,  the  Indians  came  one  by  one  to  his 
..ouse,  with  their  arms  concealed  under  their  blankets,  and,  being  all 
assembled,  commenced  firing  on  those  slaughtering  the  animal,  and  in 
a  moment  the  Doctor's  house  was  surrounded ;  the  Doctor,  and  a  young 


520  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

lad  brought  up  by  himself,  were  shot  in  the  house.  His  lady,  Mr. 
Rogers,  and  the  children  had  taken  refuge  in  the  garret,  but  were 
draped  down  and  dispatched  (excepting  the  children)  outside,  where 
their  bodies  were  left  exposed. 

"  It  is  reported  that  it  was  not  their  intention  to  kill  Mr.  Rogers,  in 
consequence  of  an  avowal  to  the  following  effect,  which  he  is  said  to 
have  made,  and  which  nothing  but  a  desire  to  save  his  life  could  have 
prompted  him  to  do.  He  said,  '  I  was  one  evening  lying  down,  and 
overheard  the  Doctor  telling  Rev.  Mr.  Spalding  that  it  was  best  you 
should  all  be  poisoned  at  once,  but  that  the  latter  told  him  it  was  best 
to  continue  slowly  and  cautiously,  and  between  this  and  spring  not  a 
soul  would  remain,  when  they  would  take  possession  of  your  lands, 
cattle,  and  horses.' 

"These  are  only  Indian^reports,  and  no  person  can  believe  the  Doctor 
capable  of  such  an  action  without  being  as  ignorant  and  brutish  as  the 
Indians  themselves.  One  of  the  murderers,  not  having  been  made 
acquainted  with  the  above  understanding,  shot  Mr.  Rogers." 

This  confession  is  made,  as  the  reader  will  notice,  and  attributed  to 
Mr.  Rogers,  in  order  to  give  the  coloring  of  truth  to  Joe  Lewis's  state 
ment.  There  appears,  as  will  be  seen  by  comparing  the  statements  of 
Vicar-General  Brouillet's  Indian  council  and  this  of  McBean's,  a  little 
doubt  which  to  make  the  author  of  that  story.  Sir  James  Douglas  has 
adopted  McBean's  statement,  as  the  most  plausible,  in  his  report,  as  it 
is  attributed  to  one  of  the  Doctors  own  party. 

The  whole  thing,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  testimony  of  Miss  Bewley,  is 
utterly  false,  and,  as  McBean  has  said,  only  Indian  reports ;  and,  we 
will  add,  told  to  them  by  Stanfield,  Joe  Lewis,  and  Finlay,  a  French 
man,  an  Indian,  and  a  half-breed,  all  under  the  influence,  and  probably 
in  the  service,  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  priests.  And 
McBean,  Sir  James  Douglas,  and  Brouillet  are  more  brutish  than  the 
Indians,  in  putting  such  reports  in  circulation.  If  they  had  no  confi 
dence  in  them,  why  did  they  repeat  them,  giving  them  the  color  of 
truth?  And  why  do  they  pretend  to  say  "his  life  would  have  been 
spared,"  and  it  was  only  a  mistake  that  he  was  shot  ?  Bevvley  and 
Sales  were  brutally  murdered  the  eighth  day  after  Rogers  was,  for 
Bewley's  saying  he  did  not  believe  the  stories  about  poisoning  Indians, 
and  that  he  believed  the  priests  were  the  cause  of  it.  If  the  Doctor, 
and  Mr.  Spalding,  and  Mrs.  Whitman  were  the  only  ones  they  thought 
injuring  them,  why  attempt  to  kill  all  the  Americans  at  the  station? 
Why  make  the  arrangements  as  extensive  as  Vicar-General  Brouillet 
tells  Mr.  Spalding  they  were  (on  page  51  of  his  narrative,  38  of  Ross 
Browne's  report)  :  "  I  knew  that  the  Indians  were  angry  with  all  Ameri- 


MR.   McBEAN'S  LETTER.  521 

cans,  and  more  enraged  against  Mr.  Spalding  than  any  other ;" — on 
54th  page  :  "  I  know  not;  you  know  the  country  better  than  I  do.  All 
that  I  know  is,  that  the  Indians  say  the  order  to  kill  Americans  has 
been  sent  in  all  directions" 

Without  the  history  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  North 
west  Fur  Company  before  us,  we  would  be  quite  incapable  of  compre 
hending  the  expressions  and  statements  of  this  priest  to  Mr.  Spalding. 
Were  we  ignorant  of  that  history,  and  without  a  knowledge  of  the 
statements  to  which  they  have  made  oath  in  relation  to  their  claims 
against  our  government,  we  could  not  understand  these  letters  of 
McBean  and  Douglas. 

We  are  also  in  possession  of  other  facts,  respecting  the  treatment  of 
their  own  countrymen  who  have  unfortunately  fallen  under  their  dis 
pleasure,  which  is  here  repeated  upon  Dr.  Whitman  and  Mr.  Rogers. 

We  would  cut  all  these  communications  short,  and  make  a  general 
statement,  but  we  would  be  charged  (as  we  have  already  been)  with 
"stringing  together  statements  without  facts;"  besides,  all  these  Hud 
son's  Bay  documents  and  statements  have  had  a  powerful  influence  to 
destroy  the  characters  of  good  men  who  are  dead,  and  shield  the  vile 
conduct  of  the  guilty,  who  are  still  living. 

So  far  as  McBean  was  concerned,  he  obeyed  orders  as  implicitly  as 
Grant  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  did,  when  he  sent  forty  families, 
in  1846,  into  the  mountains  of  California,  to  perish  in  the  snow  with 
cold  and  hunger.  McBean  must  assist  in  blackening  the  character  of 
Whitman,  Rogers,  and  Spalding,  to  protect  that  of  the  "  holy  fathers, 
the  Catholic  priests."1"1 

McBean  in  his  letter  further  says  :  "  It  is  well  understood  that  eleven 
lives  were  lost  and  three  wounded.  It  is  also  rumored  that  they  are  to 
make  an  attack  upon  the  fort ;  let  them  come  if  they  will  not  listen  to 
reason  ;  though  I  have  only  five  men  at  the  establishment,  I  am  prepared 
to  give  them  a  warm  reception ;  the  gates  are  closed  day  and  night,  and 
bastions  in  readiness.  In  company  with  Mr.  Man  son's  two  sons  was 
sent  a  young  half-breed  lad  brought  up  by  Dr.  Whitman ;  they  are  all 
here,  and  have  got  over  their  fright." 

This  portion  of  the  letter  is  supposed,  by  Mr.  Hinman,  to  have  been 
put  in  by  Mr.  Douglas  in  place  of  that  which  related  to  sending  parties 
to  destroy  Americans  at  other  places  ;  and  to  show  to  the  world  that 
they  were  threatened  by  the  Indians,  as  well  as  the  Americans.  The 
same  as  Brouillet  is  careful  to  tell  us  that  "  he  was  afraid  the  Indians 
would  kill  him,"  and  that  the  priests  were  not  safe  among  them. 

"  The  ringleaders  in  this  horrible  butchery  are  Tilokaikt,  his  son, 
Big  Belly,  Tamsaky,  Istacus  [a  true  friend  of  the  Americans,  who  was 


522  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

only  a  witness  of  the  murders],  Towmoulisk,  etc.  I  understand  from  the 
interpreter  that  they  were  making  one  common  grave  for  the  dead. 
The  houses  were  stripped  of  every  thing  in  the  shape  of  property  ;  but 
when  they  came  to  divide  the  spoils,  they  all  fell  out  among  themselves, 
and  all  agreed  to  put  back  the  property.  I  am  happy  to  state  the  Wal- 
lawalla  chief  had  no  hand  in  the  whole  business." 

If  this  is  true,  the  killing  of  the  Walla  walla  chiefs  son  in  California 
could  not  have  been  one  of  the  causes  of  the  massacre,  as  alleged  in  the 
narrative  of  the  very  Rev.  Mr.  Brouillet. 

"  They  were  all  the  Doctor's  own  people, — the  Cayuses" 

This  we  should  expect,  as  it  would  enable  those  who  wished  to  make 
their  own  guilt  appear  innocence.  The  Doctor's  people  alone  were  to 
commence  killing  the  Americans.  It  is  asserted  by  good  authority, 
that  a  part  of  Mr.  Spalding's,  and  the  Indians  at  the  Dalles,  were  ready 
to  engage  in  the  same  business,  from  the  same  advice  and  orders. 

"  One  American  shot  another,  and  took  Uie  Indians'  part  to  save  his 
own  life.'1'1 

This  statement  by  McBean  is  made,  as  will  be  seen,  to  give  the  im 
pression  that  there  was  a  quarrel  among  the  Americans,  and  that  they 
were  ready  to  betray  and  shoot  each  other  and  take  the  part  of  the 
Indians.  The  reader  will  recollect  that  this  shooting  refers  to  the  In 
dian  Joe  Lewis,  in  killing  one  of  the  Sager  boys,  and  is  explained  par 
ticularly  by  Sir  James  Douglas  in  his  Sandwich  Islands  letter,  for  the 
information  of  the  American  Board  of  Missions.  This  fact  goes  to  show 
that  Sir  James  had  received  a  more  particular  and  carefully  prepared 
account  than  Mr.  McBean  had  ;  while  the  one  was  a  summary,  the 
other  was  the  particulars  so  arranged  as  to  implicate  Dr.  Whitman, 
Mr.  Spalding,  Mr.  Rogers,  Mrs.  Whitman,  and  another  American,  to 
show  that  they  were  not  only  ready  to  poison  the  Indians,  but  to  kill 
and  betray  each  other  to  save  their  own  lives ;  thus  showing  the 
intimate  connection  and  complicity  of  Sir  James  with  the  very  rev. 
vicar-general,  in  giving  countenance  to  this  infamous  slander,  and 
publishing  it  to  the  world  over  his  own  signature,  and  using  all  his 
influence  to  shield  and  clear  the  instigators  of  the  crime. 

It  can  not  be  urged  that  Sir  James  received  his  particular  informa 
tion  at  some  other  time,  for  his  letters  to  Governor  Abernethy  and  the 
Sandwich  Islands  were  dated,  the  one  to  the  governor,  December  7, 
1847,  in  which  he  says,  "A  copy  of  Mr.  McBean's  letter  herewith  will 
give  you  all  the  particulars  known  to  us  of  this  indescribably  painful 
event;"  and  the  one  to  the  Islands,  December  9,  1847,  in  which  he 
gives  more  particulars. 

The  impression  is  irresistibly  fixed  in  the  mind,  that  Mr.  Brouillet 


MR.    McBEAN'S   LETTER.  523 

spent  most  of  the  night,  on  arriving  at  Wailatpu  (before  the  dead  were 
buried),  in  Tilokaikt's  lodge  or  camp,  arranging  and  writing  those  state 
ments  and  particulars,  so  that  Sir  James  Douglas  could  give  his  ap 
proval,  and  that  they  would  go  to  the  American  Board  of  Missions  and 
the  friends  of  the  murdered  dead,  with  the  sanction  of  his  name, 
implicating  the  dead  as  having  brought  about  this  horrible  massacre. 

Another  reason  for  this  impression  is,  that  in  all  the  public  and 
private  correspondence  between  any  of  these  parties,  there  is,  and 
always  has  been,  the  most  intense  anxiety  shown  to  prevent  the  open 
discussion  of  that  transaction,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  next  paragraph  in 
McBean's  letter,  and  by  the  promptness  with  which  Mr.  Ogden  reported 
to  Bishop  Blanchet  ;  Mr.  Spalding's  injudicious  remarks  to  Major 
Magone  on  the  trip  down  the  river;  the  manner  of  Mr.  Spalding's  very 
unwise  and  imprudent  letter  to  the  bishop  and  his  priests,  was  published 
and  commented  upon  by  them  ;  the  promptness  of  Mr.  Douglas  to  de 
mand  an  explanation  of  Colonel  Gilliam's  supposed  statement  ;  the 
refusal  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  furnish  supplies  to  the  pro 
visional  troops;  and  the  fact  that  the  company  did  supply  1,080  pounds 
of  powder,  1,800  pounds  of  balls  and  shot  to  the  priests  for  the  Indians, 
with  three  cases  containing  thirty-six  guns,  all  of  which  were  seized  by 
Lieutenant  Rogers  at  the  Dalles,  and  should  have  been  (but  were  not) 
confiscated.  We  will  now  ask  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the  re 
mainder  of  this  (to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  Romanists  in  gen 
eral)  glorious  news  of  the  complete  victory  they  had  obtained  over 
Protestantism  and  its  missions  in  Oregon. 

Mr.  McBean,  or  Sir  James  Douglas,  we  do  not  know  which,  says  : 
"  Allow  me  to  draw  a  veil  over  this  dreadful  affair  which  is  too  painful 
to  dwell  upon,  and  which  I  have  explained  conformable  to  information 
received  and  with  sympathizing  feelings. 

"  I  remain,  with  much  respect,  gentlemen, 

"  Your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 
"WILLIAM 


We  can  scarcely  retain  the  expressions  of  Whew  !  Horrible  !  etc.,  as 
we  give  the  balance  of  this  important  letter,  copied  and  given  to  the 
public  of  Oregon,  under  the  eye  of  Sir  James  Douglas,  with  the  — 

"  N".  B.  —  I  have  just  learned  that  the  Cayuses  are  to  be  here  to-morrow 
to  kill  Serpent  Jaune,  the  Wallawalla  chief.  "  W.  McB." 

"  Names  of  those  who  were  killed  :  Dr.  Whitman,  Mrs.  Whitman, 
Mr.  Rogers,  Hoffman,  Sanders,  Osborn  [not  killed],  Marsh,  John  and 


524:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

Francis  Sager,  Canfield  [not  killed],  and  a  sailor,  besides  three  that 
were  wounded  more  or  less  —  Messrs.  Hall,  Kimball,  and  another  whose 
name  I  can  not  learn.  "  W. 


Could  the  reader  look  at  the  exact  original  copy  of  that  letter,  and 
of  that  as  found  in  the  Spectator  of  December  10,  1847,  and  hear  the 
expressions  of  sentiment  and  feeling  among  a  portion  of  the  people  at 
Oregon  City  ;  and  listen  to  some  of  the  private  consultations,  and  hear 
the  opinions  there  expressed,  he  would  be  able  to  understand  the  im 
pression  that  this,  with  some  other  letters  published  at  that  time,  made 
upon  the  public  mind. 

There  was  in  one  little  council  of  a  number  of  the  then  representa 
tives  of  Oregon,  a  disposition  to  let  that  foul  murder  pass,  without 
making  an  effort  to  avenge  those  deaths,  or  punish  the  Indians.  One 
of  that  little  council  exclaimed  with  an  oath,  "  Gentlemen,  we  must  not 
allow  that  murder  to  pass,  without  an  effort  to  punish  those  concerned 
in  it  ;  and  for  one,  I  know  that  Dr.  Whitman  did  not  bring  it  upon 
himself.  Our  own  existence  in  this  country  is  involved  in  the  action 
we  take  in  this  matter.  It  becomes  absolutely  necessary  that  we  take 
measures  to  protect  ourselves  and  punish  the  murderers." 

"FoBT  VANCOUVER,  Dec.  7,  1847. 
"  George  Abernethy,  Esq.  : 

"  SIR,  —  Having  received  intelligence  last  night  (on  the  4th),  by  special 
express  from  Wallawalla,  of  the  destruction  of  the  missionary  settle 
ment  at  Wailatpu  by  the  Cayuse  Indians  of  that  place,  we  hasten  to 
communicate  the  particulars  of  that  dreadful  event,  one  of  the  most 
atrocious  which  darkens  the  annals  of  Indian  crime. 

"  Our  lamented  friend  Dr.  Whitman,  his  amiable  and  accomplished 
lady,  with  nine  other  persons,  have  fallen  victims  to  the  fury  of  those 
remorseless  savages,  who  appear  to  have  been  instigated  to  the  appalling 
crime  by  a  horrible  suspicion  which  had  taken  possession  of  their 
superstitious  minds,  in  consequence  of  the  number  of  deaths  from 
dysentery  and  measles,  that  Dr.  Whitman  was  silently  working  the 
destruction  of  their  tribe,  by  administering  poisonous  drugs  under  the 
semblance  of  salutary  medicines. 

"  With  a  goodness  of  heart  and  benevolence  truly  his  own,  Dr. 
Whitman  had  been  laboring  incessantly,  since  the  appearance  of  the 
measles  and  dysentery  among  his  Indian  converts,  to  relieve  their  suf 
ferings,  and  such  has  been  the  reward  of  his  generous  labors. 

"A  copy  of  Mr.  McBearfs  letter  herewith  will  give  you  all  the  parti- 
culars  known  to  us  of  this  indescribably  painful  event. 


MR.   DOUGLAS'S  LETTERS.  525 

"  Mr.  Ogden,  with  a  strong  party,  will  leave  this  place  as  soon  as  pos 
sible  for  Wallawalla,  to  endeavor  to  prevent  further  evil,  and  we  beg  to 
suggest  to  you  the  propriety  of  taking  instant  measures  for  the  protec 
tion  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Spalding,  who,  for  the  sake  of  his  family,  ought  to 
abandon  the  Clearwater  Mission  without  delay,  and  retire  to  a  place  of 
safety,  as  he  can  not  remain  at  that  isolated  station  without  imminent 
risk  in  the  present  excited  and  irritated  state  of  the  Indian  population. 
"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir, 


"  Your  most  obedient  servant 


"  JAMES  DOUGLAS." 

We  now  give  Sir  James  Douglas's  letter  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  as 
found  in  the  March  number  of  the  Friend : — 

"FORT  VANCOUVER,  Dec.  9,  1847. 
"  S.  JV.  Castle,  Esq.  : 

"  SIR, — It  is  with  feelings  indescribably  painful  that  I  hasten  to  com 
municate  to  you,  for  the  information  of  the  Board  of  Missions,  intelli 
gence  of  a  disastrous  event  which  lately  occurred  at  the  mission  station 
of  Wailatpu.  Our  esteemed  friend  Dr.  Whitman,  his  amiable  and 
accomplished  lady,  and  nine  men  and  youths  in  the  mission  employ, 
were  murdered  on  the  29th  ultimo  by  the  Cayuse  Indians,  with 
circumstances  of  the  most  revolting  cruelty.  The  lives  of  the  women 
and  children,  with  the  exception  of  the  lamented  lady  already  men 
tioned,  were  spared.  The  mission  being  situated  in  the  Cayuse  coun 
try,  they  had  a  peculiar  interest  in  protecting  it  from  harm,  in  grati 
tude  for  past  favors,  and  for  the  blessings  of  religious  instruction  so 
assiduously  dispensed  to  them  and  to  their  families ;  yet  those  very 
people,  the  objects  of  so  much  solicitude,  were  alone  concerned  in 
effecting  the  destruction  of  the  establishment  founded  solely  for  their 
benefit. 

"  The  Cayuses  are  the  most  treacherous  and  untractable  of  all  the 
Indian  tribes  in  this  country  [contradicted  by  Mr.  Ogden],  and  had  on 
many  former  occasions  alarmed  the  inmates  of  the  mission  by  their 
tumultuous  proceedings  and  ferocious  threats  ;  but,  unfortunately,  these 
evidences  of  a  brutal  disposition  were  disregarded  by  their  admirable 
pastor,  and  served  only  to  arm  him  with  a  firmer  resolution  to  do  them 
good.  He  hoped  that  time  and  instruction  would  produce  a  change  of 
mind, — a  better  state  of  feeling  toward  the  mission, — and  might  have 
lived  to  see  his  hopes  realized  [had  not  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
and  the  Roman  priests  determined  otherwise],  had  not  the  measles 
and  dysentery,  following  in  the  train  of  emigration  from  the  United 


526  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

States,  made  fearful  ravages  this  year  in  the  upper  country,  many  Indians 
having  been  carried  off  through  the  violence  of  the  disease,  and  others 
through  their  own  imprudence. 

"  The  Cayuse  Indians  of  Wailatpu  being  sufferers  in  the  general 
calamity,  were  incensed  against  Dr.  Whitman,  [by  the  tales  of  Joe 
Lewis,  Staufield,  and  the  very  Rev.  Mr.  Brouillet,  who  afterward  found 
a  vial  of  white  powder  and  called  it  poison,  and  ordered  the  Indians  to 
bury  it,  as  per  evidence  in  the  case]  for  not  exerting  his  supposed 
supernatural  power  in  saving  their  lives.  They  carried  this  absurdity 
beyond  that  point  of  folly. 

"  Their  superstitious  minds  becamed  possessed  with  the  horrible 
superstition  that  he  was  giving  poison  to  the  sick  instead  of  wholesome 
medicine,  with  the  view  of  working  the  destruction  of  the  tribe ;  their 
former  cruelty  probably  adding  strength  to  their  suspicions.  Still 
some  of  the  more  reflecting  had  confidence  in  Dr.  Whitman's  integrity, 
and  it  was  agreed  to  test  the  effect  of  the  medicine  he  had  furnished  on 
three  of  their  people,  one  of  whom  was  said  to  be  in  perfect  health." 

The  absurdity  of  this  statement  is  so  palpable,  and  so  perfectly  im 
probable  in  every  respect,  that,  with  all  my  study  of  Indian  character,  I 
am  unable  to  understand  why  this  statement  is  repeated  by  any  of  the 
parties  concerned  in  bringing  about  that  massacre.  It  can  only  be 
believed  by  the  most  stupid,  as  it  has  not  the  plausibility  of  truth  in  it ; 
and  Mr.  Douglas  showed  a  debasement  of  mind  beyond  comprehension 
in  quoting  it  to  his  friend.  We  quote  this  whole  letter,  that  it  may 
be  seen  how  low  Sir  James  felt  himself  obliged  to  descend,  to  make 
an  absurdity  appear  reasonable.  The  idea  is  started  by  Brouillet, 
increased  by  McBean,  and  completed  by  Douglas,  who  would  give  such 
accounts  to  the  public  to  make  others  equally  false  appear  probable. 
He  continues : — 

u  They  unfortunately  died,  and  from  that  moment  it  teas  resolved  to 
destroy  the  mission" 

But  we  have  positive  testimony  that  the  destruction  of  that  mis 
sion,  with  Mr.  Spalding's,  was  determined  upon,  and  so  stated  by 
McBean  before  an  Indian  was  known  to  be  sick  in  the  tribe  or  at  the 
station.  Mr.  Douglas  says  : — 

"  It  was  immediately  after  burying  the  remains  of  these  three  persons, 
that  they  repaired  to  the  mission  one  after  another,  with  their  arms  hid 
under  their  blankets.  The  Doctor  was  at  the  school  with  the  children, 
the  others  were  cutting  up  an  ox  which  they  had  just  killed.  When 
the  Indians  were  numerous  enough  to  effect  their  object,  they  fell  upon 
the  poor  victims,  some  with  guns  and  others  with  hatchets,  and  their 
blood  was  soon  streaming  on  all  sides. 


MR.   DOUGLAS'S  LETTER.  527 

"  Some  of  the  Indians  turned  their  attention  toward  the  Doctor;  he 
received  a  pistol-shot  in  the  breast  from  one,  and  a  blow  on  the  head 
from  another.  He  had  still  strength  enough  to  reach  a  sofa,  where  he 
threw  himself  down  and  expired.  Mrs.  Whitman  was  dragged  from 
the  garret  and  mercilessly  butchered  at  the  door.  Mr.  Rogers  was  shot 
after  his  life  had  been  granted  to  him. 

"The  women  and  children  were  also  going  to  be  murdered,  when  a 
voice  was  raised  to  ask  for  mercy  in  favor  of  those  whom  they  thought 
innocent,  and  their  lives  were  spared. 

"  It  is  reported  that  a  kind  of  deposition  made  by  Mr.  Rogers  in 
censed  the  fury  of  this  savage  mob.  Mr.  Rogers  was  seized,  was  made 
to  sit  down,  and  then  told  that  his  life  would  be  spared  if  he  made  a 
full  discovery  of  Dr.  Whitman's  supposed  treachery.  That  person  then 
told  the  Indians  that  the  Doctor  intended  to  poison  them ;  that  one 
night,  when  Mr.  Spalding  was  at  Wailatpu,  he  heard  them  say  that  the 
Indians  ought  to  be  poisoned,  in  order  that  the  Americans  might  take 
possession  of  their  lands ;  that  the  Doctor  wished  to  poison  them  all  at 
once,  but  Mr.  Spalding  advised  him  to  do  it  gradually.  Mr.  Rogers, 
after  this  deposition,  was  spared,  but  an  Indian,  who  was  aaot  present, 
having  seen  him,  fired  at  and  killed  him. 

"An  American  made  a  similar  deposition,  adding  that  Mrs.  Whitman 
was  an  accomplice,  and  she  deserved  death  as  well  as  her  husband. 

"  It  appears  that  he  concluded  by  saying  that  he  would  take  the  side 
of  the  Indians,  and  that  he  detested  the  Americans.  An  Indian  then 
put  a  pistol  into  his  hand,  and  said  to  him,  'If  you  tell  the  truth,  you 
must  prove  it  by  shooting  that  young  American ;'  and  this  wretched 
apostate  from  his  country  tired  upon  the  young  man  shown  to  him,  and 
laid  him  dead  at  his  feet. 

"It  was  upon  the  evidence  of  that  American  that  Mrs.  Whitman 
•was  murdered,  or  she  might  have  shared  in  the  mercy  extended  to  the 
other  females  and  children. 

"  Such  are  the  details,  as  far  as  known,  of  that  disastrous  event, 
and  the  causes  which  led  to  it. 

"  Mr.  Rogers'  reported  deposition,  if  correct,  is  unworthy  of  belief, 
having  been  drawn  from  him  by  the  fear  of  instant  death.  The  other 
American,  who  shed  the  blood  of  his  own  friend,  must  be  a  villain  of 
the  darkest  dye,  and  ought  to  suffer  for  his  aggravated  crime." 

There  is  no  evidence  that  Sir  James  Douglas  ever  exerted  the  least 
influence  to  arrest  or  punish  one  of  those  murderers;  on  the  contrary, 
there  is  evidence  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  assisted  them  and 
facilitated  their  escape  from  justice,  and  supplied  the  Indians  with  arms 
and  ammunition  to  carry  on  the  war  that  followed.  Particulars  of  the 


528  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

whole  truth  are  given  in  another  chapter.     This  letter  of  Sir  James 
Douglas  continues : — 

"  On  the  7th  instant,  Mr.  Ogden  proceeded  toward  Wallawalla  with 
a  strong  party  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  servants,  to  endeavor  to 
prevent  further  evil. 

"  Accompanying,  you  will  receive  a  copy  of  a  letter  which  I  addressed 
to  Governor  Abernethy  immediately  after  the  arrival  of  the  melancholy 
intelligence  at  this  place. 

"  All  that  can  be  collected  will  be  considered  important  by  the  friends 
of  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Whitman  in  the  United  States,  who  will  be  anxious 
to  learn  every  particular  concerning  their  tragic  fate.  It  will  be  a  sat 
isfaction  for  them  to  know  that  these  eminent  servants  of  God  were 
faithful  in  their  lives,  though  we  have  to  deplore  the  melancholy  cir 
cumstances  which  accompanied  their  departure  from  this  world  of  trial. 
"  I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  JAMES  DOUGLAS." 

We  now  have  before  us  the  statements  of  all  the  parties  concerned 
in  the  most  inhuman  and  disgraceful  tragedy  that  has  darkened  the 
pages  of  our  history.  The  crime  itself  was  most  inhuman  -and  brutal, 
but,  being  mixed  \vith  religious  prejudice  and  sectarian  hate,  guided  and 
brought  about  by  foreign  commercial  influences  under  the  direction  of 
a  British  monopoly,  it  demands  a  national  investigation. 

That  Sir  James  Douglas  knew  more  of  the  inception  and  ultimate 
designs  of  that  transaction  is  evident  from  the  prompt  and  careful 
manner  in  which  he  answered  Mr.  Ogden's  remark,  that  it  was  brought 
about  from  religious  causes;  he  affirmed  that  '''•there  might  be  other 
causes  /"  and  when  he  had  read  the  dispatches,  he  said,  "  We  must  con 
sider  tJte  poor  man  was  in  great  perplexity,  and  might  not  know  what 
to  do"  These  two  expressions  of  Sir  James  Douglas  to  Mr.  Ogden 
and  Mr.  Hinman  are  the  key  that  unlocks  the  whole  mystery  in  this 
desperate  arrangement  to  hold  this  whole  country  for  the  exclusive 
benefit  of  that  monopoly. 

As  to  the  morality  of  the  transaction,  the  great  sympathy  of  Sir 
James  and  his  conclave  of  bishops  and  priests,  the  church  assumes  all. 
The  baptizing  of  three  Indian  children  was  of  more  importance  to  the 
church  than  all  the  suffering  widows  and  orphans  at  that  missionary 
settlement. 

The  particular  account,  as  given  by  Sir  James,  was  of  more  import 
ance  than  punishing  the  murderers,  or  even  casting  a  suspicion,  such 
as  Mr.  Ogden,  his  associate,  had  done,  upon  his  accomplices  in  crime. 

These  two  letters  show  his  duplicity,  and  the  unblushing  manner  in 


REMARKS.  .  529 

which  he  gives  one  statement  to  Governor  Abernethy,  for  Oregon,  and 
another  for  the  Board  of  Missions,  and  how  careful  he  is  to  state  cir 
cumstances  and  false  impressions  as  to  the  facts  he  pretends  to  give  with 
so  much  sympathy  and  apparent  interest  in  the  fate  of  the  murdered 
dead. 

There  are  but  two  other  persons  who  have  given  us  any  information 
of  this  tragedy,  on  the  part  of  the  priests  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany.  One  of  those  was,  at  the  time,  in  charge  of  Fort  Nez  Perces. 
His  account  was  sent  to  Sir  James, — mutilated,  and  not  as  carefully  pre 
pared  for  the  people  of  Oregon  as  was  this  one  for  the  great  world 
beyond.  The  other  is  prepared  by  the  very  Rev.  Mr.  Brouillet,  vicar- 
general  of  Wallawalla,  and  given  to  the  world  to  form  an  "  interesting 
and  authentic  chapter  in  the  history  of  Protestant  missions"  and  con 
tains  all  the  imnginary  circumstantial  statements  of  the  massacre,  as 
given  over  the  name  of  James  Douglas,  and  officially  in  the  repoft  of 
J.  Ross  Browne,  December  4,  1859. 

If  these  statements  had  first  appeared,  as  they  now  do,  over  the  name 
and  by  the  authority  or  affirmation  of  the  very  Rev.  Mr.  Brouillet,  etc., 
all  the  world,  as  J.  Ross  Browne  did,  would  have  adopted  the  idea  of 
Mr.  Ogden,  and  said  truly  this  was  the  result  of  opposition  in  religion. 
But  Sir  James  Douglas  proves,  by  his  own  statements  and  letters,  and 
subsequent  conduct  all  through  the  war  that  followed,  that  it  was  not 
11  opposition  in  religion  alone."  It  was  a  predetermined  arrangement 
of  the  "powerful  company,  the  practical  monopoly  of  the  far  trade" 
which,  in  1865,  he  affirmed  this  company  held  over  the  country  in  1840. 
The  profits  of  that  business  were  not  to  be  lost  to  his  powerful  com 
pany  by  any  missionary  settlement  in  it. 

Are  we  correct  in  these  conclusions  ?  The  statements  are  given  by 
the  parties  implicated.  Were  we  to  allow  our  personal  feelings  and  sec 
tarian  preferences  to  influence  our  conclusions,  we  would  join  in  the  gen 
eral  conclusion  of  Mr.  Ogden  ;  but  a  full  knowledge  of  the  facts  forces 
us  to  believe  the  statement  of  Mr.  Douglas  as  being  the  most  correct; 
nevertheless,  we  will  not  abate  one  iota  of  the  scathing  condemnation 
justly  due  to  the  foreign  sectarianism  brought  into  the  country  to  effect 
the  object  of  that  corporation,  nor  of  the  scorn  and  infamy  due  to  the 
immediate  controlling  actors — Bishop  Blanchet  and  his  priests — under 
the  garb  of  religion. 

We  wish  to  keep  as  distinctly  as  possible  before  the  mind  the  sep 
arate  part  each  party  has  performed  in  this  great  drama  of  which  we 
have  been  writing.  As  we  have  before  said,  there  were  four  distinct 
parties  or  influences  in  the  country,  and  the  Indian  formed  the  fifth. 
The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  Roman  priests  combined  and 

34 


530  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

formed  one;  the  missionaries  with  the  settlers  formed  another  ;  and  the 
Indian  was  between  them.  For  a  time,  the  American  influence  was  the 
most  prominent, — say  in  1 843, 1 844,  and  1 845.  In  1 846,  Bishop  Blanchet 
was  in  Europe,  making  extensive  preparations  for  missionary  operations 
in  Oregon,  corresponding  in  extent  with  those  made  by  the  Rev.  Jason 
Lee  in  1839-40. 

"  On  August  19,  1847,  Bishop  Blanchet  arrived  in  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  River,  in  the  Morning  Star,  Captain  Menes,  five  and  a  half 
months  from  Brest,  with  five  priests,  three  Jesuits,  three  lay  brothers, 
two  deacons,  and  seven  nuns."  In  addition  to  these,  we  had,  overland, 
eight  priests  and  two  nuns  that  same  year.  These,  with  the  priests 
already  in  the  country,  gave  us  twenty-five  of  the  Roman  clerical  order 
and  fifteen  nuns.  This  was  a  powerful  and  extensive  effort  to  recover 
the  lost  foreign  influence  in  the  country.  How  well  they  succeeded  is 
now  a  matter  of  history,  and  will  enable  the  reader  to  understand  the 
bold  and  defiant  attitude  of  Mr.  Douglas  and  his  efficient  co-laborers, 
Bishop  Blanchet  and  his  priests,  among  the  Indians. 

The  missionary  settlement  at  Wailatpu  was  the  most  important  point 
in  the  whole  upper  country.  The  influence  and  position  of  those  Indians 
were  such,  that  special  efforts  were  required  to  commence  and  carry  on 
the  destruction  of  all  American  settlements  in  the  country. 

We  come  now  to  the  letter  of  Hon.  A.  Hinman,  properly  belonging 
to  this  chapter. 

FORT  VANCOUVER,  December  4,  1847. 
Mr.  George  Abernethy  : 

DEAR  SIR, — A  Frenchman,  from  Walla  walla,  arrived  at  my  place  on 
last  Saturday,  and  informed  me  that  he  was  on  his  way  to  Vancouver, 
and  wished  me  to  assist  in  procuring  him  a  canoe  immediately.  I  was 
very  inquisitive  to  know  if  there  was  any  difficulty  above.  He  said 
four  Frenchmen  had  died  recently,  and  he  wished  to  get  others  to 
occupy  their  places. 

I  immediately  got  him  a  canoe,  and  concluded  to  go  in  company  with 
him,  in  order  to  get  some  medicine  for  the  Indians,  as  they  were  dying 
off  with  measles  and  other  diseases  very  fast.  I  was  charged  with  in 
difference.  They  said  we  were  killing  in  not  giving  them  medicines, 
and  I  founrl  if  we  were  not  exposing  our  lives,  we  were  our  peace,  and 
consequently  I  set  out  for  this  place.  This  side  of  the  Cascadps  I  was 
made  acquainted  with  the  horrible  massacre  that,  took  place  at  Wailatpu 
last  Monday.  Horrid  to  relate!  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Whitman,  Mr.  Rogers, 
Mr.  Osborn,  Mr.  Sanders,  a  school-teacher,  the  two  orphan  boys  (John 
and  Francis  Sager),  together  with  all  the  men  at  that  place, — eleven  in  all. 
Some  are  living  at  the  saw-mill,  which  is  situated  about  twenty  miles 


HON.   A.   HINMAX'S   LETTER.  531 

from  the  Doctor's.  A  party  set  out  for  that  place  to  dispatch  them ; 
also  a  party  for  Mr.  Spalding's,  to  dispatch  them ;  and  they  are  not 
satisfied  yet,  but  a  party  is  said  to  have  started  for  my  place,  and  has, 
if  true,  reached  there  before  this  time.  Oh !  had  I  known  it  when  I 
was  at  home.  I  can  neither  sleep  nor  take  any  rest,  on  account  of  my 
family  and  those  with  them,  viz.,  my  wife  and  child,  the  Doctor's 
nephew,  Dr.  Saffron,  and  Mr.  McKinney  and  wife.  If  I  had  ten  men  I 
could  defend  myself  with  perfect  ease,  by  occupying  the  meeting-house, 
which  is  very  roomy  and  close.  You  see  my  situation,  as  well  as  Mr. 
Spalding's.  I  have  perfect  confidence  in  your  doing  all  you  can  to  get 
a  party  to  come  up  and  spend  the  winter  there,  and  likewise  to  go  to 
the  rescue  of  the  women  and  children,  and  Mr.  Spalding,  if  alive, 
which  I  think  very  doubtful. 

Delay  not  a  moment  in  sending  a  few  men  for  my  protection  ;  a 
few  moments  may  save  our  lives. 

I  expect  to  leave  to-morrow  for  home,  and  perhaps  the  first  saluta 
tion  will  be  a  ball.  My  family  is  there,  and  I  must  return  if  it  costs 
my  life. 

We  are  in  the  hands  of  a  merciful  God,  why  should  we  be  alarmed  ? 
I  will  close  by  saying  again,  send  a  small  force  immediately  without 
the  delay  of  one  day.  Farewell. 

Yours  truly, 

ALANSON  HIXMAN. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  main  facts  are  given  by  Mr.  Hinman,  with 
the  designs  of  other  Indian  parties  to  cut  off  the  Americans  at  Mr. 
Spalding's,  the  saw-mill,  and  at  the  Dalles,  which  Mr.  Douglas  omits 
in  his  letter  to  Governor  Abernethy,  but  informs  him  of  the  Indians' 
threatened  attack  upon  Fort  Nez  Perces  (Walla walla). 

That  part  of  Mr.  Douglas's  letter  relating  to  Mr.  Rogers'  sup 
posed  statement  to  the  Indians,  the  brother  (still  living)  has  requested 
Mr.  Douglas  to  explain ;  but  no  explanation  has  been  given.  We 
know,  from  the  depositions  given,  that  Mr.  Douglas  made  the  statement 
without  evidence  of  its  truth  ;  and  it  is  evident  he  is  too  stubborn  or 
proud  to  acknowledge  or  explain  his  error. 

There  is  one  other  fact  in  connection  with  this  transaction  that  looks 
dark  on  the  part  of  Sir  James  Douglas. 

It  is  shown  in  the  dates  of  the  several  letters.     Mr.  Hinman's  is 

i  dated  December  4 ;  Mr.  Douglas's,  December  7  ;  that  to  the  Sandwich 

Islands,   December   9.     Now,   between   the   4th    and    7th   are   three 

days.     In  a  case  of  so  much  importance,  and  professed  sympathy,-— as 

expressed  in  his  letter, — how  is  it,  that  three,  or  even  two  days  were 


532  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

allowed  to  pass  without  sending  a  dispatch  informing  Governor 
Abernethy  of  what  had  happened,  and  of  what  was  expected  to  take 
place?  which  last  he  had  left  out  of  his  letter,  and  the  copy  of 
McBean's  ;  but  does  inform  him  of  the  threatened  danger  to  Fort  Kez 
Perces,  as  coming  from  McBean. 

Mr.  Douglas  is  prompt  to  urge  the  removal  of  Mr.  Spalding,  but 
unreasonably  slow  to  send  an  express  twenty  or  thirty  miles  to  notify 
the  American  settlement  of  its  danger. 

We  wish  to  say,  once  for  all,  that  we  are  not  giving  the  private 
history  or  character  of  any  man  or  set  of  men.  Their  public  conduct 
:and  proceedings  are  a  part  of  our  history.  Mr.  Douglas  was,  at  the 
lime  we  are  writing,  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  and,  as  such,  acted  and  controlled  the  movements  of  its  mem- 
feers.  Bishop  Blanchet  was  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  Roman 
Church,  and,  as  such,  acted  with  Mr.  Douglas ;  for  while  not  one 
lioman  priest,  or  a  servant  of  either  of  these  two  parties  were  dis 
turbed  or  harmed  in  the  least,  all  Protestant  missionaries  and  American 
citizens  were  either  killed,  or  driven  from  the  upper  country  by  order 
of  that  company.  As  Robert  Newell  asserts,  under  date  of  October 
25,  1866  :  "  And  they  could  not  have  remained  in  the  country  a  week 
without  the  consent  and  aid  of  that  company,  nor  could  any  mission, 
in  my  opinion,  in  those  days  have  been  established  in  this  (Wallamet) 
or  that  (Wallawalla)  valley,  without  the  aid  and  influence  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  nor  could  the  settlers  have  remained  in  the 
country  as  they  did  up  to  1 848,  for  the  same  reasons." 

This  statement  is  made  by  a  gentleman  who  professes  to  know  more 
of,  and  has  been  (without  a  question)  more  favored  by  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  than  any  other  American  in  the  country.  If  his  state 
ment  is  true,  which  we  have  no  doubt  he  believes  it  to  be,  then  who 
is  responsible  .for  all  the  murders  of  American  hunters,  trappers,  mis 
sionaries,  immigrants,  and  settlers  on  their  way  to  our  country  and  in 
it.  But  we  will  not  risk  our  conclusions  upon  the  statement  of  an 
individual,  who  is  totally  ignorant  of  the  policy  of  the  company  he 
undertakes  to  defend.  We  have,  in  addition,  the  sworn  statement  of 
Sir  James  Douglas  as  to  the  power  and  influence  of  his  company,  one 
year  previous  to  the  cutting  off  of  the  missionary  settlement  at  Wail- 
atpu. 

He  says,  under  oath  :  "  Their  posts  were  so  arranged  as  to  practically 
enjoy  a  monopoly  in  the  fur  trade,  and  they  possessed  an  extraordinary 
influence  with  the  nations  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains."  (Answer 
to  interrogatory  in  claim  Hudson's  Bay  Company  v.  United  States.) 

That  this  influence  was  exerted  to  destroy  that  mission  there  can  be 


ME.   OGDEN'S  STATEMENT   TO  INDIANS.  533 

no  question  ;  and  that  the  same  influence  has  since  been  exerted  to 
spread,  far  and  wide,  statements  originated  by  them  and  their  associ 
ates  to  blast  the  character  of  the  dead,  and  destroy  the  influence  of 
the  living  in  the  cause  of  truth,  is  equally  true. 

We  find  it  stated  in  Brouillet's  narrative  that  the  most  friendly  and 
cordial  relations  existed  between  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  his 
mission ;  so  much  so,  that  he  is  present  by  special  invitation  at  Mr. 
Ogden's  council  for  arranging  the  purchase  of  the  captives.  He 
informs  us,  on  page  69,  "  Protestantism  in  Oregon,"  that  Mr.  Ogden 
told  them  that  "  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  never  deceived 
them ;  that  he  hoped  they  would  listen  to  his  words ;  that  the  com 
pany  did  not  meddle  with  the  affairs  of  the  Americans  ;  that  there 
were  three  parties  /  the  Americans  on  one  side,  the  Cayuses  on  the 
other,  and  the  French  people  and  the  priests  in  the  middle  ;  the  com 
pany  was  there  to  trade  and  the  priests  to  teach  them  their  duties ; 
'  Listen  to  the  priests,'  said  he,  several  times ;  '  listen  to  the  priests ; 
they  will  teach  you  how  to  keep  a  good  life  ;  the  priests  do  not  come 
to  make  war ;  they  carry  no  arms, — they  carry  but  their  crucifixes,*  and 
with  them  they  can  not  kill.'  He  insisted  particularly ,  and  at  several 
times,  upon  the  distinction  necessary  to  be  made  between  the  affairs  of 
the  company  and  those  of  the  Americans." 

The  company's  interests  must  not  be  interfered  with.  The  profes 
sions  of  sympathy  found  in  Mr.  Douglas's  letters  are  all  explained, 
when  the  facts  are  fully  developed.  The  complaint  of  the  company,  as 
stated  in  the  memorial  presented  to  the  commissioners,  April  17, 
1865  (Hudson's  Bay  Company  v.  United  States,  page  19),  states  that 
"  among  these  circumstances  may  be  specified  the  aggressive  acts  and 
the  general  conduct  of  American  citizens,  and  of  persons  acting  under 
the  authority  of  the  United  States,  commencing  shortly  after  the  15th 
of  June,  1846,  and  continuing  from  year  to  year,  by  which  the  rights 
of  the  claimants  under  that  treaty  were  violated  and  denied,  and  their 
property  and  possessions  were,  in  some  instances,  usurped  and  taken 
from  them,  and,  in  others,  were  necessarily  abandoned.  This  course  of 
conduct  was,  perhaps,  to  be  expected,  from  the  anomalous  position  in 
which  the  company  was  placed, — a  foreign  corporation  exercising  a 
quasi  sovereignty  and  exclusive  rights  over  territory  transferred  to  a 
power  whose  policy  in  dealing  with  such  territory  was  diametrically 
opposed  to  that  which  the  company  pursued,  and  from  which  they 
derived  their  profits." 

This  complaint  demands  careful  consideration  at  the  present  time. 

*  The  Oblates,  who  constantly  carry  a  crucifix  on  their  breasts,  were  present 


534:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

The  statements  of  Mr.  Ogden  to  the  Indians,  the  memorial  of  the  com 
pany,  and  the  testimony  it  has  produced  in  support  of  its  claims,  the 
statements  and  correspondence  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  all  go  to 
prove  the  settled  policy  of  the  company  to  maintain  its  "  quasi  sover 
eignty  "  and  exclusive  asserted  claims  to  the  country  at  the  time  of  the 
Wailatpu  massacre. 

That  company,  with  less  than  half  its  then  powerful  influence  and 
capital,  had  compelled  the  more  powerful  and  active  French-Canadian 
Northwest  Company,  numerically  stronger  than  itself,  to  yield  and  accept 
its  terms  of  a  union  in  1821. 

They  had  driven  from  the  country  all  American  traders.  They  had, 
as  they  vainly  imagined,  secured  an  influence  in  the  provisional  Ameri 
can  government  sufficient  to  control  all  danger  from  that  source,  while 
they  were  ready  to  let  loose  the  Indians  upon  the  settlers,  and  prepared 
to  supply  them  with  the  means  to  destroy  or  drive  them  from  the 
country. 

ffil'JV 


i»fut  "••>;•,  •• 


ili-'.iiv  *r 


lo  '.-•• 


riO  TJIOTSIH 


it  itsrfT 

ftntf.  voarm  -or  l«iirrjm 

•  iiciii  b:i«  J?T  •  fkiil  riliw.  ,-isoin  vfiit, 

CHAPTER  LXI. 

Preliminary  events  of  the  Cay  use  war.  —  Message  of  Governor  Abernethy.  —  Journal 
of  the  house.  —  Resolutions.  —  Assembling  of  the  people  at  the  call  of  the  gov 
ernor.  —  Enlisting  of  men.  —  Names  of  the  volunteers.  —  Names  of  the  officers.  — 
Their  flag.  —  Their  departure.  —  Letter  to  Sir  James  Douglas.  —  His  reply.  —  Commis 
sioners  return.  —  Address  to  the  citizens.  —  Public  meeting.  —  Report  of  commis 
sioners  to  the  Legislature.  —  Messenger  sent  to  Washington.  —  Memorial  to  Con 
gress.  —  Champoeg  County  tax.  —  Strength  of  the  settlement  called  for.  —  Bishop 
Blanchet's  letter  to  Governor  Abernethy. 

Message  of  Governor  Abernethy. 

OREGON  CITY,  December  8,  1847. 

GENTLEMEN,  —  It  is  my  painful  duty  to  lay  the  inclosed  communica 
tions  before  your  honorable  body.  They  will  give  you  the  particulars 
of  the  horrible  massacre  committed  by  the  Cayuse  Indians  on  the  resi 
dents  at  Wailatpu.  This  is  one  of  the  most  distressing  circumstances 
that  has  occurred  in  our  Territory,  and  one  that  calls  for  immediate  and 
prompt  action.  I  am  aware  that  to  meet  this  case  funds  will  be 
required,  and  suggest  the  propriety  of  applying  to  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  and  the  merchants  of  this  place  for  a  loan  to  carry  out  what 
ever  plan  you  may  fix  upon.  I  have  no  doubt  but  the  expense  attend 
ing  this  affair  will  be  promptly  met  by  the  United  States  government. 

The  wives  and  children  of  the  murdered  persons,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Spalding  and  family,  and  all  others  who  may  be  in  the  upper  country, 
should  at  once  be  proffered  assistance,  and  an  escort  to  convey  them  to 
places  of  safety.  I  have  the  honor  to  remain,  gentlemen, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

GEORGE  ABERNETHY. 

To  the  Honorable  Legislative  Assembly,  Oregon. 

Journal  of  the  House,  December  8,  1847 

At  two  o'clock  the  house  met.  The  sergeant-at-arms  announced  a 
special  communication  from  the  governor,  which  was  read  by  the  clerk. 
It  consisted  of  letters  from  Messrs.  Douglas  and  McBean,  of  the  forts  on 
the  Columbia,  announcing  the  horrid  murder  of  Dr.  Whitman's  family 
and  others,  accompanied  by  a  letter  from  the  governor,  praying  the 
immediate  action  of  the  house  in  the  matter. 

Mr.  Meek  moved  the  reference  of  the  communications  to  a  committee 


536 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


of  the  whole  house,  which  was  lost.  Mr.  Nesmith  offered  the  follow 
ing,  which  was  adopted  : — 

"  .Resolved,  That  the  governor  be,  and  is  hereby,  authorized  and 
required  to  raise,  arm,  and  equip  a  company  of  riflemen,  not  to  exceed 
fifty  men,  with  their  captain  and  subaltern  officers,  and  dispatch  them 
forthwith  to  occupy  the  mission  station  at  the  Dalles,  on  the  Columbia 
River,  and  hold  possession  until  re-enforcements  can  arrive  at  that 
point,  or  other  means  be  taken,  as  the  government  thinks  advisable." 

Messrs.  Nesmith,  Reese,  and  Crawford  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  wait  on  the  governor  and  inform  him  of  said  resolution. 

The  communications  concerning  the  Indian  depredations  were  re 
ferred  to  a  committee  consisting  of  Messrs.  Ford,  Rector,  and  White. 

The  committee  appointed  to  wait  on  the  governor  concerning  the 
resolution  for  raising  a  company  of  riflemen,  reported  that  they  had  dis 
charged  their  duty,  and  received,  in  answer,  that  the  governor  will  use 
his  utmost  endeavors  to  accomplish  the  object. 

The  governor  called  the  people  together  in  the  evening,  and,  after 
the  statements  of  the  object  of  the  meeting,  some  forcible  and  earnest 
remarks  from  Judge  Nesmith  and  Messrs.  Lee,  Barlow,  and  others,  the 
enrollment  of  the  first  company  of  Oregon  riflemen  commenced. 

The  following  true  and  noble- hearted  men  sprang  to  arms,  and,  in  fif 
teen  hours  from  the  time  they  had  enrolled  their  names  as  defenders  of 
Oregon,  were  on  their  way  to  protect  their  own  and  their  countrymen's 
lives  from  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  Jesuitical,  and  Indian  savagism. 

We  will  give  the  names  of  this  noble  little  band  a  place  in  the  history 
of  the  country  they  were  so  prompt  and  ready  to  defend.  They  are  as 
follows : — 

George  Moore, 
Henry  W.  Coe, 
William  Buckman, 
S.  A.  Jackson, 
Jacob  Witchey, 


Joseph  B.  Proctor, 
J.  S.  Rinearson, 
H.  A.  G.  Lee, 
Thomas  Purvis, 
J.  Magone, 
C.  Richardson, 
J.  E.  Ross, 
Isaac  Walgamoutts, 
John  G.  Gibson, 
B.  B.  Rogers, 
Benjamin  Bratton, 
Samuel  K.  Barlow, 
Wm.  Berry, 
John  Bolton, 


John  Fleming, 
A.  C.  Little, 
A.  J.  Thomas, 
George  Westby, 
Edward  Robson, 
Andrew  Wise, 
D.  Averson, 
J.  H.  McMellen, 
John  C.  Danford, 


W.  M.  Carpenter, 
Lucius  Marsh, 
Joel  McKee, 
H.  Le valley, 
J.  W.  Morgan, 
O.  Tupper, 
R.  S.  Tupper, 
C.  H.  Devendorf, 
John  Hiner, 
C.  W.  Savage, 
G.  H.  Bosworth, 
Jacob  Johnson, 
Stephen  Cummings, 
George  West  on. 


STARTING  OF  FIRST  COMPANY.  537 

Forty-two  as  noble  and  true  men  as  ever  breathed.  They  were  soon 
organized  under  a  set  of  energetic  and  brave  young  officers,  who  feared 
no  danger,  and  were  ready  to  meet  in  open  fight  the  combined  enemies 
of  their  country's  rights  upon  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  or  in  the  moun 
tains  or  valleys  of  Oregon.  Their  officers  were  : — 

Captain,  II.  A.  G.  Lee.  First  Sergeant,  J.  S.  Rinearson. 

First  Lieutenant,  J.  Magone.  Second  Sergeant,  W.  Savage. 

Second  Lieutenant,  J.  E.  Ross.  Third  Sergeant,  "Wm.  Berry. 

Commissary,  C.  H.  Devendorf.  First  Corporal,  Stephen  Cummings. 

Surgeon,  W.  M.  Carpenter,  M.  D.  Second  Corporal,  J.  H.  McMellen. 

"  At  twelve  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  Tuesday,  the  company  assem 
bled  at  the  City  Hotel,  where  they  were  presented  with  an  appropriate 
flag,  by  Judge  Nesraith,  in  behalf  of  the  ladies  of  Oregon  City,  with  an 
appropriate  address.  (No  record  of  that  address  or  of  the  names  of 
the  donors  can  be  found.)  Captain  Lee,  on  the  part  of  the  company, 
»ade  an  exceedingly  happy  reply  upon  receiving  the  beautiful  token  of 
the  patriotism  of  the  lovely  donors." 

In  two  hours  after,  the  company  started,  amid  the  firing  of  cannon 
and  the  cheers  of  the  assembled  citizens.  It  speaks  well  for  our  city, 
that  iii  less  than  twenty-four  hours  this  detachment  was  raised  and  had 
started  for  the  scene  of  action. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  editor  of  the  Oregon  Spectator,  at  the 
time  these  deeply-interesting  events  were  occurring,  should  fill  the  only 
public  journal  on  the  coast  with  accounts  of  personal  piques,  and  allow 
the  remarks  of  Judge  Nesmith  and  the  reply  of  Captain  Lee  to  pass 
with  the  meager  notice  we  have  quoted  ;  that  the  deeply-stirring  events 
respecting  the  murder  of  his  countrymen  should  find  so  small  a  place  in 
his  editorial.  He  tells  us  in  this  same  paper  that  he  means  to  keep  us 
posted  in  the  war  news,  but  the  next  paper  is  filled  with  a  personal  war 
between  himself  and  the  directors  of  the  Printing  Association,  about 
some  political  resolutions  that  did  no  good  or  harm  to  anybody,  except 
to  show  the  party  spirit  then  existing  in  the  country,  in  which  he  is 
foolish  enough  to  engage,  and  degrade  his  noble  position  as  a  journalist 
and  editor,  which  compels  us  to  look  to  other  sources  for  facts  relative 
to  the  history  of  those  times. 

Our  little  army  of  braves  were  accompanied  by  Governor  Abernethy 
and  three  commissioners  to  Vancouver,  where  they  completed  their 
outfit  before  proceeding  to  the  Dalles. 

They  arrived  at  Vancouver  on  the  10th  of  December.  On  the  llth, 
the  commissioners  addressed  a  letter  to  Mr.  Douglas,  requesting  him  to 
furnish  supplies,  as  follows : — 


538  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

FOKT  VANCOUVER,  December  11,  1847. 
To  James  Douglas,  Esq. : 

gIR? — By  the  inclosed  document  you  will  perceive  that  the  under 
signed  have  been  charged  by  the  Legislature  of  our  provisional  govern 
ment  with  the  difficult  duty  of  obtaining  the  means  necessary  to  arm, 
equip,  and  support  in  the  field,  a  force  sufficient  to  obtain  full  satisfac 
tion  of  the  Cayuse  Indians  for  the  late  massacre  at  Wailatpu,  and 
protect  the  white  population  of  our  common  country  from  further 
aggression. 

In  pursuance  of  this  object,  they  have  deemed  it  their  duty  to  make 
immediate  application  to  the  Honorable  Hudson's  Bay  Company  for  the 
requisite  assistance. 

Though  clothed  with  the  power  to  pledge,  to  the  fullest  extent,  the 
faith  and  means  of  the  present  government  of  Oregon,  they  do  not  con 
sider  this  pledge  the  only  security  of  those  who,  in  this  distressing 
emergency,  may  extend  to  the  people  of  this  country  the  means  of  pro 
tection  and  redress.  Without  claiming  any  especial  authority  from  the 
government  of  the  United  States  to  contract  a  debt  to  be  liquidated  by 
that  power,  yet  from  all  precedents  of  like  character  in  the  history  of 
our  country,  the  undersigned  feel  confident  that  the  United  States  gov 
ernment  will  consider  the  murder  of  the  late  Dr.  Whitman  and  lady 
as  a  national  wrong,  and  will  fully  justify  the  people  of  Oregon  in  tak 
ing  active  measures  to  obtain  redress  for  that  outrage,  and  for  their  pro 
tection  from  further  aggression. 

The  right  of  self-defense  is  tacitly  accorded  to  every  body  politic  in 
the  confederacy  to  which  we  claim  to  belong,  and  in  every  case  similar 
to  our  own,  within  our  knowledge,  the  general  government  has  promptly 
assumed  the  payment  of  all  liabilities  growing  out  of  the  measures 
taken  by  the  constituted  authorities  to  protect  the  lives  and  property 
of  those  residing  within  the  limits  of  their  districts. 

If  the  citizens  of  the  States  and  Territories  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  are  justified  in  promptly  acting  in  such  emergencies,  who 
are  under  the  immediate  protection  of  the  general  government,  there 
appears  no  room  to  doubt  that  the  lawful  acts  of  the  Oregon  govern 
ment  will  receive  a  like  approval. 

Should  the  temporary  character  of  our  government  be  considered  by 
you  sufficient  ground  to  doubt  its  ability  to  redeem  its  pledge,  and 
reasons  growing  out  of  its  peculiar  organization  be  deemed  sufficient 
to  prevent  the  recognition  of  its  acts  by  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  we  feel  it  our  duty,  as  private  individuals,  to  inquire  to  what 
extent  and  on  what  terms  advances  may  be  had  of  the  Honorable  Hud- 


THE   COMMISSIONERS'  APPEAL.  539 

eon's  Bay  Company,  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  force  the  authorities  of 
Oregon  deem  it  their  duty  to  send  into  the  field. 

With  sentiments  of  the  highest  respect,  allow  us  to  subscribe  our 
selves,  Your  most  obedient  servants, 

JESSE  APPLEGATE,  \ 

A.  L.  LOVEJOY,       (.  Commissioners.* 

GEO.  L.  CURRY,      ) 

Captain  Lee's  company  received  their  outfit  as  per  arrangements 
through  the  governor,  Mr.  Applegate,  and  Mr.  Lovejoy,  and  proceeded 
to  the  Dalles.  The  commissioners  returned  to  Oregon  City,  and  on  the 
13th  December,  1847,  addressed  the  merchants  and  citizens  of  Oregon 
as  follows : — 

GENTLEMEN, — You  are  aware  that  the  undersigned  have  been  charged 
by  the  Legislature  of  our  provisional  government  with  the  difficult 
duty  of  obtaining  the  means  necessary  to  arm,  equip,  and  support  in 
the  field  a  force  sufficient  to  obtain  full  satisfaction  of  the  Cayuse  In 
dians,  for  the  late  massacre  at  Wailatpu,  and  protect  the  white  popula 
tion  of  our  common  country  from  further  aggression.  In  furtherance 
of  this  object,  they  have  deemed  it  their  duty  to  make  immediate  appli 
cation  to  the  merchants  and  citizens  of  the  country  for  the  requisite 

assistance,  f 

****  **** 

Though  the  Indians  of  the  Columbia  have  committed  a  great  out 
rage  upon  our  fellow-citizens  passing  through  their  country,  and  residing 
among  them,  and  their  punishment  for  these  murders  may,  and  ought 
to  be,  a  prime  object  with  every  citizen  of  Oregon,  yet,  as  that  duty 
more  particularly  devolves  upon  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
and  admits  of  delay,  we  do  not  make  this  the  strongest  ground  upon 
which  to  found  our  earnest  appeal  to  you  for  pecuniary  assistance.  It 
is  a  fact  well  known  to  every  person  acquainted  with  the  Indian 
character,  that,  by  passing  silently  over  their  repeated  thefts,  robberies, 
and  murders  of  our  fellow-citizens,  they  have  been  emboldened  to  the 
commission  of  the  appalling  massacre  at  Wailatpu.  They  call  us 
women,  destitute  of  the  hearts  and  courage  of  men,  and  if  we  allow  this 

*  Mr.  Douglas's  reply  to  the  above  was,  in  substance,  a  refusal  to  advance  the  means 
asked  for  in  consequence  of  the  stringent  rules  laid  doion  for  his  government  by  the  home 
company.  He,  however,  upon  the  security  of  the  governor,  and  two  of  the  commis 
sioners,  advanced  the  amount  necessary  to  fit  out  the  first  company  of  Oregon  riflemen, 
$999.59. — (See  report  of  Loan  Commissioners,  Oregon  Archives,  p.  323.) 

f  The  paragraphs  here  omitted  are  the  same  as  those  addressed  to  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company. 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

wholesale  murder  to  pass  by  as  former  aggressions,  who  can  tell  how 
long  either  life  or  property  will  be  secure  in  any  part  of  this  country, 
or  what  moment  the  WaUamet  will  be  the  scene  of  blood  and  carnage  ? 
The  officers  of  our  provisional  government  have  nobly  performed 
their  duty.  None  can  doubt  the  readiness  of  the  patriotic  sons  of  the 
West  to  offer  their  personal  service  in  defense  of  a  cause  so  righteous ; 
so  it  now  rests  with  you,  gentlemen,  to  say  whether  our  rights  and  our 
firesides  shall  be  defended  or  not.  Hoping  that  none  will  be  found  to 
falter  in  so  high  and  so  sacred  a  duty,  we  beg  leave,  gentlemen,  to 
subscribe  ourselves,  your  servants  and  fellow-citizens, 

JESSE  APPLEGATE,     ) 
A.  L.  LOVEJOY,          V  Commissioners. 
GEO.  L.  CUKRY,         ) 

On  the  evening  of  the  13th  December,  1847,  a  public  meeting  of  the 
citizens  was  called,  and  a  public  loan  effected,  and  subscriptions  com 
menced  for  the  equipment  and  supply  of  the  army,  as  will  be  seen  by 
the  following  report  of  the  commissioners  : — 

To  the  Honorable  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  Oregon  Territory : 

The  undersigned  commissioners  appointed  by  your  honorable  body 
for  the  purpose  of  negotiating  a  loan  to  carry  into  effect  the  provisions 
of  an  act  entitled  "  An  Act  to  authorize  the  governor  to  raise  a  regiment 
of  volunteers,"  etc.,  have  the  honor  to  inform  you,  that,  fully  realizing 
the  heavy  responsibilities  attached  to  their  situation,  and  the  peculiarly 
difficult  nature  of  their  duties,  they  at  once  determined  to  act  with 
promptness  and  energy,  and  to  leave  no  fair  and  honorable  effort  untried 
that  might  have  a  tendency  to  a  successful  termination  of  their  under 
taking. 

They  accordingly  proceeded  to  Fort  Vancouver  on  the  10th  instant, 
and  there  addressed  a  communication  to  James  Douglas,  chief  factor  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  a  copy  of  which  is  already  given.  The 
commissioners  had  anticipated  the  unfavorable  reply  of  Mr.  Douglas, 
as  agent  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  its  only  effect  was  to 
heighten  their  zeal  and  to  occasion  them  stronger  hopes  of  a  more  satis 
factory  reliance  upon  the  citizens  generally  of  our  common  country. 

However,  two  of  the  commissioners,  with  the  governor,  became 
responsible  for  the  amount  of  the  outfit  for  the  first  regiment  of  Oregon 
riflemen,  being  $999.59. 

Not  at  all  disheartened  by  the  unsuccessful  issue  of  their  mission,  the 
commissioners  returned  to  this  city  on  the  13th  instant,  and  at  once 
entered  into  negotiations,  the  revelation  of  which  herewith  follows. 


POSITION  OF  THE  BRITISH  COMPANY.  54.} 

The  commissioners,  through  a  public  meeting  held  at  Oregon  City,  on 
the  night  of  the  13th  instant,  addressed  the  "merchants  and  citizens 
of  Oregon,"  at  which  meeting,  from  citizens  generally,  a  loan  of  about 
one  thousand  dollars  was  effected.  *  *  *  The  commissioners  are 
happy  to  state  that  they  have  succeeded  in  negotiating  a  loan  of  sixteen 
hundred  dollars  from  the  merchants  of  Oregon  City,  with,  perhaps,  a 
likelihood  of  a  further  advance.  The  commissioners  feel  well  assured, 
from  the  interest  manifested  by  our  fellow-citizens  in  the  matter,  and 
the  prompt  action  they  have  proposed  to  take  in  the  several  counties  in 
the  Territory  to  assist  the  commissioners  in  the  successful  discharge  of 
their  duties,  that  the  government  will  ultimately  succeed  in  negotiating 
an  amount  adequate  to  the  present  emergency  of  affairs. 

The  commissioners  would  beg  your  honorable  body,  with  as  little 
delay  as  possible,  to  appoint  appraisers,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  set  a 
cash  valuation  upon  produce  and  other  property,  which  may  be  con 
verted  into  means  to  assist  government  in  its  present  operations. 

Therefore,  gentlemen,  as  we  believe  we  can  no  longer  be  useful  to 
our  fellow-citizens  as  a  Board,  we  hope  to  be  permitted  to  resign  our 
trust  into  the  hands  of  the  proper  accounting  officers  of  this  govern 
ment.  We  have  the  honor  to  remain, 

JESSE  APPLEGATE,    ) 
A.  L.  LOVEJOY,          y  Commissioners. 
GEO.  L.  CURRY,        ) 

It  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  this  last  report  of  the  loan  commis 
sioners,  and  the  answer  to  their  letter  of  the  llth  December,  1849,  that 
Sir  James  Douglas  had  made  up  his  mind  to  enforce  "  the  stringent 
rules  laid  down  for  his  government  by  the  home  company."  In  other 
words,  the  time  had  now  arrived  to  allow  the  Indians  and  half-breeds 
in  the  country  to  destroy  the  missionary  settlements  that  were  begin 
ning  to  extend  beyond  the  Wallamet  Valley ;  and  in  case  they  succeeded 
in  defeating  the  provisional  troops,  the  settlement  in  the  Wallamet 
would  become  an  easy  prey  to  the  combined  Indian  forces,  while  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  would  pursue  its  accustomed  trade  without 
any  further  interference  from  American  settlements. 

In  addition  to  the  proceedings  above  referred  to,  the  Legislative 
Assembly,  on  the  10th  of  December,  on  motion  of  Hon.  J.  W. 
Nesmith, — 

"  Resolved,  That  in  view  of  our  critical  situation  with  the  powerful 
tribes  of  Indians  inhabiting  the  banks  of  the  Columbia,  and  with  whom 
we  are  actually  in  a  state  of  hostilities,  it  is  the  duty  of  this  Legislature 
to  dispatch  a  special  messenger,  as  soon  as  practicable,  to  Washington 


542  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

City,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  immediate  influence  and  protection 
of  the  United  States  government  in  our  internal  affairs." 

On  the  llth  December,  Cornelius  Gilliam  was  elected  by  the  Legis 
lative  Assembly,  Colonel  Commandant  ;  James  Waters,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel;  H.  A.  G.  Lee,  Major  ;  and  Joel  Palmer,  Commissary-General, 
in  compliance  with  the  bill  passed  on  the  9th,  authorizing  the  governor 
to  call  for  one  regiment  of  not  to  exceed  five  hundred  men. 

On  the  13th,  Mr.  Nesmith  presented  a  bill  to  provide  for  sending  a 
special  messenger  to  Washington. 

On  the  14th,-on  motion  of  Mr.  Crawford,  "  Resolved,  That  a  delega 
tion  of  three  persons  be  appointed  by  this  house  to  proceed  immediately 
to  Wallawalla,  and  hold  a  council  with  the  chiefs  and  principal  men  of 
the  various  tribes  on  the  Columbia,  to  prevent,  if  possible,  their  coali 
tion  with  the  Cayuse  tribe  in  the  present  difficulties." 

On  the  15th,  it  was  "Resolved,  That  the  commodore  of  the  United 
States  squadron  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  be  solicited  to  send  a  vessel  of 
war  into  the  Columbia  River  for  our  relief,  and  to  send  such  other 
assistance  as  may  be  in  his  power." 

A  motion  was  adopted  to  appoint  a  committee  of  five  to  prepare  a 
memorial  to  Congress. 

On  the  16th,  an  act  was  passed  appropriating  one  thousand  dollars  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  J.  L.  Meek,  special  messenger  to  Washington. 

On  the  17th,  Mr.  Meek  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Legislative  Assembly, 
preparatory  to  leaving  for  the  United  States  with  dispatches  and  a 
memorial  to  Congress. 

As  to  what  those  dispatches  were,  we  have  no  copy  or  public  docu 
ment  that  gives  us  any  information,  but  we  presume  he  carried  a  copy 
of  Mr.  McBean's  mutilated  letter,  and  one  of  Sir  James  Douglas's,  such 
as  we  have  already  given  ;  and  also  the  following 

Memorial  to   Congress. 

"  To  the  Honorable  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  in  Congress  assembled : 

"Your  memorialists,  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  Oregon  Territory, 
would  respectfully  beg  leave  once  more  to  lay  before  your  honorable 
body  a  brief  statement  of  their  situation  and  wants. 

"Having  called  upon  the  government  of  the  United  States  so  often 
in  vain,  we  have  almost  despaired  of  receiving  its  protection,  yet  we 
trust  that  our  present  situation,  when  fully  laid  before  you,  will  at  once 
satisfy  your  honorable  body  of  the  great  necessity  of  extending  the 
strong  arm  of  guardianship  and  protection  over  this  remote,  but  beau 
tiful  portion  of  the  United  States  domain. 


MEMORIAL  OP  1847.  543 

"  Our  relations  with  the  proud  and  powerful  tribes  of  Indians  residing 
east  of  the  Cascade  Mountains,  hitherto  uniformly  amicable  and  pacific, 
have  recently  assumed  quite  a  different  character.  They  have  shouted 
the  war-whoop,  and  crimsoned  their  tomahawks  in  the  blood  of  our 
citizens.  The  Cayuse  Indians,  after  committing  numerous  outrages  and 
robberies  upon  the  late  immigrants,  have,  without  the  semblance  of  pro 
vocation  or  excuse,  murdered  eleven  [seventeen]  American  citizens. 
Among  the  murdered  were  Dr.  Marcus  Whitman  and  his  amiable  wife, 
members  of  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 

"  Called  upon  to  resent  this  outrage,  we  feel  sensibly  our  weakness 
and  inability  to  enter  into  a  war  with  powerful  tribes  of  Indians.  Such 
outrages  can  not,  however,  be  suffered  to  pass  unpunished.  It  will  be 
the  commencement  of  future  and  more  extensive  murders,  and  our 
hitherto  peaceful  settlement  will  become  the  scene  of  fierce  and  violent 
warfare.  We  do  not  doubt  the  readiness  of  the  people  of  this  country 
to  defend  their  lives  and  property,  and  to  submit  to  all  the  privations 
incident  to  a  state  of  war  in  a  new  and  remote  settlement  like  this. 
Circumstances  warrant  your  memorialists  in  believing  that  many  of  the 
powerful  tribes  inhabiting  the  upper  valley  ot  the  Columbia  have 
formed  an  alliance  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  hostilities  against 
our  settlements.  The  number  of  white  population  in  Oregon  is  alarm 
ingly  insignificant  compared  with  the  swarms  of'  Indians  which  throng 
its  valleys. 

"To  repel  the  attacks  of  so  formidable  a  foe,  and  protect  our  families 
and  property  from  violence  and  rapine,  will  require  more  strength 
than  we  possess.  We  are  deficient  in  many  of  the  grand  essentials  of 
war, — such  as  men,  arms,  and  treasure  ;  for  them,  our  sole  reliance  is  on 
the  government  of  the  United  States  ;  we  have  the  right  to  expect 
your  aid,  and  you  are  in  justice  bound  to  extend  it.  For  although  we 
are  separated  from  our  native  land  by  ranges  of  mountains  whose  lofty 
altitudes  are  mantled  in  eternal  snows;  although  three  thousand  miles, 
nearly  two-thirds  of  which  is  a  howling  wild,  lie  between  us  and  the 
federal  capital,  yet  our  hearts  are  unalienated  from  the  land  of  our 
birth.  Our  love  for  the  free  and  noble  institutions,  under  which  it  was 
our  fortune  to  be  born  and  nurtured,  remains  unabated.  In  short,  we 
are  Americans  still, — residing  in  a  country  over  which  the  government 
of  the  United  States  have  sole  and  acknowledged  right  of  sovereignty, 
—-and  under  such  circumstances  we  have  the  right  to  claim  the  benefit 
of  its  laws  and  protection. 

"  Your  memorialists  would  avail  themselves  of  this  opportunity  to 
invite  your  attention  to  other  subjects  of  deep  and  vital  interest  to  the 
citizens  of  this  Territory.  The  very  nature  of  our  compact  formed 


544  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

between  the  citizens  of  a  republic  and  the  subjects  and  official  repre 
sentatives  of  a  monarchy,  is  such  that  the  ties  of  political  union  could 
not  be  drawn  so  closely  as  to  produce  that  stability  and  strength  suf 
ficient  to  form  an  efficient  government.  This  union  between  the  demo 
crats  of  a  republic  and  wealthy  aristocratic  subjects  of  a  monarchy 
could  not  be  formed  without  reserving  to  themselves  the  right  of 
allegiance  to  their  respective  governments.  Political  jealousy  and 
strong  party  feeling  have  tended  to  thwart  and  render  impotent  the 
acts  of  government,  from  its  very  nature  weak  and  insufficient." 

The  deep,  dark,  and  infamous  schemes  of  a  foreign  monopoly  and 
religious  bigots  were  but  just  developing  themselves;  but,  thank  God, 
there  was  strength  enough  in  the  provisional  government,  which  was 
formed  in  the  face  of  their  combined  opposition.  They  had  yielded  to 
its  power,  to  gain  time  to  organize  their  savage  hosts  to  crush  it ; 
calculating,  no  doubt,  that  the  Mexican  war  would  prevent  assistance 
reaching  us  from  the  United  States.  The  Indians,  let  loose  upon 
the  settlements,  would  soon  clear  the  country.  That  such  was  the 
general  English  idea,  we  know  from  two  different  English  subjects. 
The  one,  a  chief  trader  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  who  said  all 
they  had  to  do  was  to  organize  the  Indians,  under  the  direction  of  their 
eight  hundred  half-breeds,  to  drive  back  any  American  force.  The 
other,  a  gold  commissioner,  a  Mr.  Saunders,  direct  from  England,  in 
speaking  of  the  small  number  of  troops  the  English  government  had  in 
British  Columbia,  remarked  to  us,  that  if  they  had  not  troops  enough 
to  subdue  the  Americans  in  British  Columbia,  "  all  they  had  to  do  was  to 
let  loose  the  Indians  upon  them" 

Such  being  the  facts,  it  is  not  surprising  that  our  Legislative  Assem 
bly  should  be  made  to  feel  its  weakness,  under  this  powerful  combi 
nation, — the  British  monopoly  that  had  refused  to  furnish  necessary 
supplies  to  the  provisional  troops  sent  to  punish  the  murderers  of  our 
citizens.  It  was  not  yet  apprised  of  the  efforts  made  by  Mr.  Ogden  to 
supply  the  Indians  with  munitions  of  war,  and  the  determination  of  the 
company  not  to  allow  itself  to  be  considered  by  the  Indians  as  favor 
ing  the  American  settlement  of  the  country.  Mr.  limes'  book,  in 
which  he  says  Dr.  McLaughlin  had  announced  to  those  Indians  in  1843 
"  that  in  case  the  Americans  did  go  to  war  with  them,  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  would  not  assist  them,"  had  not  yet  been  published.  The 
memorial  continues : — 

"  In  establishing  a  regular  form  of  government,  creating  tribunals 
for  the  adjustment  of  the  rights  of  individuals,  and  the  prevention  and 


MEMORIAL  OF  1847.  545 

punishment  of  crime,  a  debt  has  accumulated,  which,  though  an  insig 
nificant  amount,  your  memorialists  can  devise  no  means  of  liquidating. 
The  revenue  laws,  from  not  being  properly  executed,  while  they  are 
burdensome  to  classes  of  our  citizens  and  sections  of  country,  are 
wholly  disregarded  by  others,  and  whole  counties,  which  for  numerical 
strength  are  equal  to  any  in  the  Territory,  and  fully  participating  in  all 
the  advantages  of  our  compact,  have  never  contributed  any  assistance 
in  bearing  the  common  burdens.* 

"  To  coerce  obedience  to  our  temporary  government  would  at  once 
destroy  the  great  object  which  called  it  into  existence, — the  peace  and 
harmony  of  our  country.  Anxiously  looking  forward  to  that  happy 
period  when  we  should  again  be  under  the  protection  of  our  revered 
and  parent  republic,  we  have  rather  endeavored  to  maintain  peace  by 
forbearance,  hoping  that  the  dangers  and  difficulties  to  be  appre 
hended  from  domestic  discord  and  from  the  savages  around  us,  would 
be  postponed  until  we  became  an  acknowledged  people,  and  under  the 
protection  of  our  mother  country. 

"  The  action  of  your  honorable  body  in  regard  to  the  land  in  Oregon 
would  seem  to  justify  the  expectation  that  liberal 'grants  would  be 
made  to  our  citizens  ;  yet  the  uncertainty  of  our  title,  and  the  uneasi 
ness  which  is  felt  upon  this  subject,  urge  to  press  this  subject  upon  your 
attention.  Our  citizens,  before  leaving  their  homes  in  the  United  States 
for  Oregon,  have  had  the  strongest  inducements  held  out  by  Congress 
to  settle  in  this  country,  and  their  just  expectations  will  not  be  met 
short  of  liberal  donations  of  land. 

"  On  the  subject  of  filling  the  offices  that  will  be  created  in  the  event 
of  the  extension  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  over  this  Ter 
ritory,  your  memorialists  would  respectfully  represent,  that,  as  the 
pioneers  of  the  American  population  in  this  country,  the  present  citizens 
of  this  country  have  strong  claims  upon  the  patronage  of  the  general 
government,  and  that  it  would  be  gratifying  to  have  them  filled  by  our 
fellow-citizens ;  but  as  few  of  them  of  an  equally  deserving  number 
can  enjoy  this  mark  of  the  approbation  of  our  parent  republic,  and  in 
view  of  our  peculiar  and  difficult  situation,  it  is  the  opinion  of  your 
memorialists  that  it  will  be  better  for  the  future  prosperity  of  our 
country,  and  that  the  great  mass  of  the  people  will  concur  with  them 
in  requesting  that  important  and  responsible  offices  created  here,  such 
as  the  office  of  governor  and  the  several  j  udgeships,  should  be  filled  with 
men  of  the  best  talent  and  most  approved  integrity,  without  regard  to 
their  present  location." 

*  Champoeg  County  being  one,  and  represented  by  Dr.  B.  Newell,  then  Speaker  of  the 
house. 

35 


54:6  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

In  relation  to  this  last  paragraph,  emanating  as  it  did  from  the 
Legislative  Assembly  of  Oregon,  it  may  appear  strange  that  a  body  of 
men  possessing  the  talent  and  ability  there  was  in  that  Assembly, 
should  be  so  liberal  in  requesting  that  most  of  the  important  federal 
appointments  for  the  Territory  should  be  filled  from  abroad,  or  with 
strangers  to  the  condition  and  wants  of  the  people ;  but  the  fact  is 
plainly  stated,  and  it  becomes  our  duty  to  impart  such  information  as 
will  explain  so  strange  a  request.  No  one  will  contend  for  a  moment 
that  we  did  not  have  the  men  who  were  abundantly  qualified  to  fill 
those  offices,  for  they  have  since  been  filled  with  far  better  satisfaction 
to  the  country  by  men  who  were  then  in  it,  than  by  those  sent  by  the 
federal  government ;  hence  we  are  led  to  inquire  what  was  the  reason 
for  this  request. 

The  general  politics  of  the  country,  as  intimated  in  the  memorial, 
were  English  aristocratic  and  American  democratic.  The  parties 
were  nearly  equally  divided.  At  the  same  time,  there  was  the  pro- 
slavery  influence  laboring  to  so  mold  the  Territory  as  to  bring  it  in  as 
a  slave  State,  though  it  had  started  free,  and  upon  the  most  liberal 
principles  of  a  free  government.  The  democratic  pro-slavery  influence 
was  not  strong  enough  to  secure  the  federal  appointments  without 
cousining  with  the  English  aristocrats,  who  looked  upon  African 
slavery  with  abhorrence.  Under  these  circumstances,  the  democrats 
of  this  assembly  became  liberal,  and  naturally  sought  aid  from  that 
party  in  the  United  States  to  which  the  anti-slavery  influence  yielded, 
and  took  their  chances  in  the  federal  appointments.  There  was  also 
in  this  Assembly  a  strong  personal  feeling  against  Judge  Thornton, 
who  was  supposed  to  be  in  the  federal  capital  seeking  the  organiza 
tion  of  the  Territory,  as  also  its  governorship  ;  and,  in  that  case,  though 
Mr.  Thornton  was  then  acting  with  the  democratic  party,  should  he 
become  the  governor,  or  one  of  the  judges,  the  pro-slavery  influence 
would  be  the  loser.  Hence  the  "  rule  or  ruin "  party  chose  to  make 
the  strange  request  found  in  this  memorial.  The  closing  paragraph 
seems  to  be  a  flourish  of  rhetoric,  and  an  appeal  to  Uncle  Samuel's 
tender  feelings.  Notwithstanding,  it  took  him  till  August  14,  1848,  to 
say  that  Oregon  should  be  a  Territory  under  its  protection.  The 
remainder  of  the  memorial  is  as  follows  : — 

"  If  it  be  at  all  the  intention  of  our  honored  parent  to  spread  her 
guardian  wing  over  her  sons  and  daughters  in  Oregon,  she  surely 
will  not  refuse  to  do  it  now,  when  they  are  struggling  with  all  the  ills 
of  a  weak  and  temporary  government,  and  when  perils  are  daily  thick 
ening  around  them  and  preparing  to  burst  upon  their  heads.  When 


MESSENGER  TO   WASHINGTON.  547 

the  ensuing  summer's  sun  shall  have  dispelled  the  snow  from  the 
mountains,  we  shall  look  with  glowing  hopes  and  restless  anxiety  for 
the  coming  of  your  laws  and  your  arms. 

"The  accompanying  documents  will  afford  additional  information 
concerning  some  of  the  subjects  of  which  we  have  spoken. 

"  To  insure  the  speedy  conveyance  of  these  papers  to  the  federal 
government,  your  memorialists  have  elected  J.  L.  Meek,  Esq.,  a 
special  messenger  to  bear  the  same,  and  respectfully  ask  your  honor 
able  body  to  make  him  such  compensation  therefor  as  you  may  deem 
just.  And  your  memorialists  will  ever  pray,  etc." 

It  will  be  seen  by  a  reference  to  the  first  day's  proceedings  of  this 
Legislative  Assembly  that  Dr.  Newell  was  chosen  its  Speaker.  In 
tracing  the  history  of  events,  we  find  this  man  always  intimately  in 
council  with  the  English  aristocratic  party  in  the  country.  Although 
he  sometimes  favored  unimportant  American  measures,  he  seemed 
always  to  guard  carefully  those  in  any  way  affecting  the  interests  of 
this  English  monopoly.  Champoeg,  the  county  he  in  part  represented, 
was  the  most  numerous  in  population  and  wealth,  and  by  reference  to 
the  Spectator  of  February  4,  1847,  we  find  the  following:  "  Champoeg 
County  tax. — There  has  been  no  tax  for  the  year  1846,  received  by  the 
treasurer  from  Champoeg  County.  How  is  this  ?  Who  is  to  blame,  and 
where  is  the  honorable  County  Court  of  Champoeg  County  ?"  This  note 
explains  the  critical  relations  of  the  country  and  the  scheming  policy  of 
the  enemy  we  had  to  contend  with,  as  also  the  personal  bickerings  among 
the  Americans.  When  Mr.  Crawford,  on  the  14th  of  December,  intro 
duced  his  resolution  for  a  delegation  of  three  persons  to  endeavor  to 
prevent  a  coalition  with  the  Indians,  we  find  this  measure  deferred  till 
near  the  close  of  the  session,  and  this  Honorable  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
Speaker  of  the  Assembly  is  one  of  the  commissioners,  as  we  shall  see 
hereafter. 

On  the  24th  of  December,  Messrs.  Nesmith,  Rice,  and  Rector  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  correspond  with  the  American  consul  at  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  and  also  with  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  army 
and  navy  on  this  coast,  in  California,  soliciting  help  from  them.  On  the 
25th,  the  house  went  into  secret  session  for  the  purpose  of  conferring 
with  the  governor,  colonel,  lieutenant-colonel,  and  commissary-general, 
in  relation  to  our  Indian  difficulties. 

,      The  result  of  that  secret  council  was  embodied  in  a  resolution  pre 
sented  to  the  house  by  Mr.  Nesmith. 

"Resolved,  That  the  executive,  as  commander-in-chief,  has  full  power 
to  adopt  all  measures  necessary  for  the  prosecution  of  the  existing  war, 


548  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

and  that  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  house,  that  it  is  expedient  for  the 
executive  to  issue  orders  for  five  hundred  men,  and  trust  to  the  patriot 
ism  of  the  citizens  of  Oregon  for  their  support  in  the  field." 

It  will  be  seen  by  this  resolution  that  there  was  sufficient  reason  to 
justify  the  calling  of  the  whole  strength  of  the  settlement  into  the  field. 
The  captives  had  reached  the  settlement,  and  his  Reverence  JSishop 
Blanchet  had  seen  proper  to  inform  the  governor,  "  that  by  going 
to  war  with  the  Cayuses  to  get  redress  for  the  murders  committed  at 
Wailatpu,  he  would  have  the  whole  Indian  combination,  or  confed 
eration,  against  him.  This,  however,  he  must  determine  with  his 
council,"  which  we  see  was  done,  and  the  American  settlement  and 
Protestant  missionaries  gave  them  a  cordial  support.  The  Indian  com 
bination,  which,  the  Jesuit  Brouillet  says,  Dr.  Whitman  attempted  to 
form,  is  here  admitted  by  the  bishop's  letter  to  Governor  Abernethy  to 
have  been  formed,  and  ready  to  fight  the  American  settlement.  Who 
formed  this  confederation  of  Indian  tribes  is  no  longer  a  doubt. 

But  we  have  kept  our  readers  too  long  from  the  proceedings  of  our 
little  army,  under  the  command  of  Captain  H.  A.  G.  Lee,  which  we 
left  on  its  way  to  the  Dalles,  to  save  that  station  from  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  Indians. 


CHAPTER   LXH. 

The  Cayuse  war. — Letter  of  Captain  Lee. — Indians  friendly  with  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company. — Conduct  of  Mr.  Ogden. — His  letters  to  Mr.  Walker  and  Mr.  Spalding. 
— Note  of  Rev.  G-.  H.  Atkinson. — Sir  James  Douglas's  letter  to  G-overnor 
Abernethy. — A  rumor. — The  governor's  reply. — Another  letter  from  Sir  James. — 
Mr.  Ogden. — Extraordinary  presents  to  the  Indians  of  arms  and  ammunition. — 
Colonel  Grilliam's  campaign.— Indian  fight. — Property  captured. — The  Des  Chutes 
Indians  make  peace. — Captain  McKay's  company  of  British  subjects  join  the  army. 
— A  nuisance. — "  ^eritas." — Nicholas  Finlay  gives  the  signal  for  battle. — Running 
fight. — Captain  McKay's  company. — Council  held  by  the  peace  commissioners  with 
the  Indians. — G-overnor  Abernethy's  address. — Speeches  of  the  Indians  Camas- 
pelo,  Joseph,  Jacob,  Old  James,  Red  Wolf,  Timothy,  Richard,  and  Kentuck. — 
Letters  of  Joel  Palmer,  R.  Newell,  James  Douglas,  and  William  McBean. — Who  is 
responsible  for  the  Cayuse  war  ? 

IF  the  reader  has  carefully  perused  the  foregoing  pages,  he  will  be 
able  to  understand  the  movements  of  our  little  army  in  the  Cayuse 
war,  as  to  the  prime  cause  of  which,  the  development  of  twenty-five 
years,  and  the  monstrous  claims  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  have 
relieved  our  present  history  from  all  mystery  and  doubt,  and  have 
enabled  us  to  arrange  and  combine  the  facts,  without  fear  of  a  truthful 
contradiction.  Major  H.  A.  G.  Lee,  in  a  letter  dated  at  Wascopum, 
December  26,  1847,  writes:— 

To  G-overnor  Abernethy  : 

"  SIR, — I  reached  this  place  on  the  evening  of  the  21st  instant,  with 
ten  men,  including  Mr.  Hinman,  whom  I  met  on  his  way  to  Wallamet 
at  Wind  River  Mountain,  thirty  miles  below.  The  boats  being  wind- 
bound,  and  hearing  from  Mr.  Hinman  that  a  party  of  the  Cayuses  and 
river  Indians  had  been  down  and  driven  off  some  horses  from  the  mis 
sion,  and  that  he  had  left  with  his  family  soon  after,  thinking  it  unsafe 
to  remain  longer,  I  was  induced  to  lead  the  few  men  that  were  with  me 
(for  we  had  been  separated  by  the  wind  and  could  not  get  together), 
and  press  to  this  place  by  land  with  all  dispatch,  to  save  the  houses 
from  destruction  ;  and  I  am  very  happy  to  inform  you  that  we  arrived 
just  in  time,  and  that  all  is  now  safe.  The  natives  immediately  about 
this  place  are  friendly,  and  hailed  our  arrival  with  much  joy.  Seletsa 
professes  friendship,  but  I  shall  keep  an  eye  on  him ;  his  men  have  been 
killing  cattle,  and  I  suspect  with  his  consent,  though  he  promises  to 


550  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

make  them  pay  for  them.  We  have  been  collecting  the  cattle  and 
placing  them  below,  in  order  to  stop  the  slaughtering  that  has  been 
carried  on  above.  We  have  not  yet  learned  the  amount  of  mischief 
done  at  this  place,  but  are  getting  things  under  way  quite  as  well  as  I 
could  have  anticipated.  Mr.  Hinman  has  been  of  great  service  to  me 
here ;  he  leaves  to-day  to  join  his  family,  whom  he  left  on  the  river. 

"  We  have  no  intelligence  from  Wailatpu,  except  Indian  report, 
which,  if  we  may  credit,  is  awful  enough.  It  is  said,  after  the  murder 
of  the  whites  at  the  place,  a  general  council  had  been  held,  and  that  the 
Nez  Perces  were  present  by  special  invitation,  i.  e.,  the  chiefs ;  that  it 
was  determined  to  make  '  a  dean  sweep '  of  all  the  Bostons,  including 
Messrs.  Spalding,  Eells,  and  Walker  above,  and  Hinman  here ;  that  they 
had,  in  execution  of  that  resolution,  returned  and  murdered  all  the 
women  and  children  who  had  been  spared  in  the  first  place,  with  the 
exception  of  three  females  who  had  been  reserved  for  wives.  Remem 
ber  this  is  but  native  news.  I  must  refer  you  to  Mr.  Hinman  for  many 
other  items  which  I  dare  not  write. 

"  From  all  I  can  gather,  the  country  east  of  the  river  Des  Chutes  is 
all  an  enemy's  country,  and  our  movements  should  be  directed  accord 
ingly.  Can  you  have  us  two  or  three  small  guns  cast  at  the  foundery? 
Each  one  would  be  equal  in  effect  to  fifty  men.  I  am  satisfied  that  the 
enemy  is  going  to  be  much  more  formidable  against  an  invading  force 
than  many  in  Wallamet  are  willing  to  believe.  The  Indians  are  all 
friendly  with  the  Hudson'1  s  Bay  Company's  men,  and  I  am  truly  sorry 
to  learn  that  Mr.  Off  den  paid  them  powder  and  ball  for  making  the 
portage  at  the  Dalles.  I  hope  this  will  be  stopped,  and  their  supplies 
of  ammunition  immediately  cut  off.  Please  take  some  measures  to  effect 
this  without  delay. 

"  Mr.  Rogers  and  Mr.  Savage  return  immediately  from  this  place, 
feeling  that  the  object  for  which  they  enlisted  has  been  accomplished  ; 
and  as  they  would  have  to  return,  according  to  promise,  in  the  course  of 
ten  or  twelve  days,  and  there  being  no  active  employment  for  them, 
they  are  permitted  to  return  now.  You  are  aware  that  they  are  among 
my  best  men,  and  for  their  persevering  energy,  so  far,  they  deserve  the 
praise  due  to  good  soldiers,  although  they  have  not  had  the  pleasure  of 
a  fight.  They  are  therefore  honorably  discharged  from  service  in  the 
1st  company  of  Oregon  riflemen. 

"  Sergeant  McMellen  will  bear  this  to  you  and  return  to  me  as  soon 
as  possible.  If  he  gets  down  in  time  to  accompany  the  next  party,  he 
will  be  of  much  service  to  them  on  the  river  ;  he  has  few  equals  in 
the  service. 

"  While  writing  the  above,  one  horse  which  had  been  stolen  from  the 


MB.   OQDEN'S  LETTER.  551 

immigrants  has  been  brought  in,  and  others  reported  on  the  way.  I  think 
most  of  the  property  stolen  near  this  place  will  be  returned  ;  that  above 
Des  Chutes  will  probably  be  contended  for.  The  Indians  about  this 
place  are  evidently  terrified,  and  I  shall  avail  myself  of  that  fact,  as  far 
as  possible,  in  furthering  the  object  of  our  trip.  I  have  no  fears  of  an 
attack  on  this  place,  yet  I  shall  be  as  vigilant  as  though  an  attack 
were  certain.  The  boats  which  were  windbound  eight  days  arrived 
this  morning  all  safe  and  well. 

"  I  remain,  your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

"H.  A.  G.  LEE." 

With  the  light  that  twenty-two  years  have  shed  upon  the  early 
history  of  Oregon,  how  shall  we  regard  the  policy  and  practice  of  the 
professedly  kind  and  generous  chief  factors  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  ?  The  one,  Sir  James  Douglas,  attempting  to  deceive  the  Ameri 
can  settlement  and  the  world  as  to  the  real  danger  of  the  settlement 
and  the  cause  of  the  massacre ;  the  other,  Mr.  Ogden,  supplying  the 
Indians  on  his  route,  and  at  Wallawalla,  with  ammunition,  and  "  insist 
ing"  while  bargaining  with  the  murderers  for  their  captives,  "  upon 
the  distinction  necessary  to  be  made  between  the  affairs  of  the  company 
and  those  of  the  Americans" 

We  undertook,  in  our  third  position,  to  show  the  influences  of  this 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  as  well  as  Romanism,  upon  our  early  settle 
ments,  and  the  causes  of  the  Indian  wars.  These  were  backed  by  one 
of  the  most  powerful  nations  then  on  the  globe,  while  a  handful  of 
American  pioneers  found  themselves  involved  in  a  savage  war.  The 
Indians  loere  advised,  aided,  and  urged  on  by  the  teachings  of  Roman 
priests  and  this  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  sustained  by  the  British 
government,  with  assistance  pledged  to  them  by  Bishop  Blanchet  and 
Chief-Factor  Ogden,  as  he  received  the  captives  from  their  hands,  and 
gave  them  more  ammunition  and  guns  than  had  ever  before  been  given 
to  them  at  any  one  time.  He  says,  in  a  letter  dated  Fort  Nez  Perces, 
December  31,  1847,  addressed  to  Rev.  E.  Walker,  at  Cimakain. 

"  I  have  been  enabled  to  effect  my  object  without  compromising  myself 
or  others,  and  it  now  remains  with  the  American  government  to  take 
what  measures  they  deem  most  beneficial  to  restore  tranquillity  to  this 
part  of  the  country,  and  this,  I  apprehend,  can  not  be  finally  effected 
without  blood  being  made  to  flow  freely.  So  as  not  to  compromise 
either  party,  I  have  made  a  heavy  sacrifice  of  goods  /  but  these,  indeed, 
are  of  trifling  value,  compared  to  the  unfortunate  beings  I  have 
rescued  from  the  hands  of  the  murderous  wretches,  and  I  feel  truly 
happy.  Let  this  suffice  for  the  present. 


• 

552  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

"  On  my  arrival  at  the  Dalles,  Mr.  Hinman's  mission,  the  previous 
day,  had  been  plundered  of  four  horses  in  open  day,  and  in  presence  of 
all  the  inmates  of  the  mission  ;  and  on  consulting  me  on  the  propriety 
of  remaining  or  removing  under  the  present  distracted  state  of  the  coun 
try,  I  advised  him  to  move,  leaving  a  trusty  Indian,  on  whom  he  could 
rely,  and  who  speaks  the  English  language,  to  remain  in  charge  of  the 
establishment ;  and  he  would  have  started  the  same  day  I  left  it.  I 
trust  this  arrangement  will  meet  with  your  approbation  ;  under  exist 
ing  circumstances,  could  not  consistently  give  any  other." 

"  Yours  truly,  «  P.  S.  OGDEN."  * 

With  such  powerful  combinations,  and  such  experienced,  wise,  and 
reverend  advisers,  it  is  not  surprising  that  those  Indians  should  feel 
themselves  able  to  make,  as  Captain  Lee  says,  "  a  clean  sweep  of  all  the 
Bostons  in  the  country"  Mr.  Ogden,  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Walker,  does 
not  intimate  that  the  provisional  government  will  presume  to  attempt 
to  seek  any  redress  for  the  murders  committed  ;  but  consoles  himself 
with  the  "  happy "  thought  that  the  difficulty  is  to  be  settled  by  the 
United  States.  Mr.  Hinrnan  he  advises  to  leave,  and  to  Mr.  Spalding 
he  sends  the  following  letter  : — 

"  FORT  NEZ  PERCES,  December  23,  1847. 
"  Rev.  H.  H.  Spalding: 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  assembled  all  the  chiefs  and  addressed  them  in 
regard  to  the  helpless  situation  of  yourself  and  the  rest  at  Wailatpu, 
and  I  have  got  them  to  consent  to  deliver  them  all  to  me :  yourself 
and  those  with  you,  save  the  two  Canadians,  who  are  safe  enough  among 
the  Indians  /  and  have  now  to  advise  you  to  lose  no  time  in  joining 
me.  At  the  same  time,  bear  in  mind,  sir,  you  have  no  promises  to  make 
them,  or  payments  to  make.  Once  more,  use  all  the  diligence  possible 
to  overtake  us.  "  Yours  truly, 

"  P.  S.  OGDEN."  * 

We  place  a  note  of  Rev.  G.  II.  Atkinson,  D.  D.,  in  this  connection,  to 
show  the  influences  that  have  for  a  series  of  years  been  operating,  and 
how  careful  that  unscrupulous  monopoly  was  to  combine  its  influences, 
and  to  deal  out  its  hospitalities,  to  secure  a  good  word  from  a  reverend 
Protestant  divine,  who  was  connected  with  the  United  States  Home 
Missionary  Board,  whose  character  is  unimpeachable,  and  to  whom  it 
refers  for  evidence  of  its  generosity.  We  are  not  surprised  to  find 

*  Copied  from  the  original  letter. 


DR.  ATKINSON'S  NOTE.  553 

Doctor  Atkinson  attempting  to  ease  the  weight  of  censure  due  to  that 
overgrown  monopoly,  from  the  fact,  that  on  his  first  arrival  in  the 
country  (after  the  Cayuse  war),  on  one  of  the  company's  ships,  unusual 
attention  and  kindness  were  evidently  shown  to  him  and  his  family  by 
the  company's  agents,  to  gain  his  favorable  representations  of  their 
proceedings,  and  a  name  for  honorable  dealing  and  generous  treatment 
of  missionaries,  as  intimated  in  his  note.  Doctor  Atkinson  says : — 

"  The  agents  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  Oregon  furnished  all 
the  missionaries  with  supplies  at  the  usual  trade  rates  until  they  could 
supply  themselves  from  home." 

In  this  the  doctor  is  mistaken,  as  we  have  shown  in  previous  pages. 
He  continues : — 

"  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Whitman  and  family,  Mr.  Ogden,  an  agent 
of  the  company,  brought  the  rest  of  the  mission  and  the  American 
families  to  the  Wallamet  Valley,  at  considerable  risk  and  sacrifice  to 
himself.  The  guilt  of  the  plot  to  massacre  Dr.  Whitman  and  other 
Americans  is  understood  to  belong  to  the  Jesuits." 

The  letters  above  quoted,  from  Mr.  Ogden  and  Captain  Lee,  show  the 
doctor's  great  mistake  in  this  statement.  Mr.  Ogden  ran  no  risk,  and 
made  no  sacrifice,  as  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  presented  their  bills, 
and  have  been  paid  every  dollar  they  had  the  impudence  to  demand  of 
our  government,  for  transporting  the  captive  women  and  children  to  a 
place  of  safety,  and  for  all  the  supplies  they  so  reluctantly  furnished  to 
our  provisional  troops.  We  do  not  believe  it  is  good  morals,  or  divin 
ity,  to  say  nothing  of  politics,  to  praise,  encourage,  or  warm  the  serpent 
that  improves  every  opportunity  to  sting  us  with  his  poisonous  fangs. 
That  company  has  enjoyed  the  monopoly  of  this  vast  country,  and  pre 
vented  its  settlement  too  long,  for  any  one  to  seek  its  praise  or  favor. 

We  have  another  letter  from  Sir  James  Douglas,  which  shows  us 
more  clearly  the  exact  position  of  that  monster  monopoly.  It  is  as 
follows : — 

"FoRT  VANCOUVER,  Dec.  31,  1847. 
"  To  Governor  George  Abernethy,  Esq. : 

"  SIR, — A  rumor  having  been  in  circulation,  for  some  days  past,  that 
it  is  General  Gilliam's  intention  to  levy  contributions  on  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  property,  for  the  purpose  of  completing  the  equipment  of 
the  troops  ordered  out  in  your  late  proclamation,  for  the  intended  opera 
tions  against  the  Indians,  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  communicate  with  you 
frankly  on  the  subject,  as  it  is  most  important,  in  the  present  critical 
state  of  our  Indian  relations,  that  there  should  be  an  entire  absence  of 
distrust,  and  that  the  most  perfect  unanimity  should  exist  among  the 
whites  of  every  class.  From  my  personal  knowledge  of  General  Gil- 


554:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

liam,  and  his  highly  respectable  character,  I  should  be  the  last  person 
to  believe  him  capable  of  committing  an  outrage  which  may  prove  so 
disastrous  in  the  immediate  and  remoter  consequences  to  the  peace  and 
best  interests  of  this  country ;  at  the  same  time,  as  the  representative  of 
a  powerful  British  association,  it  becomes  my  duty  to  take  instant 
measures  for  the  protection  of  their  property,  until  I  receive,  through 
you,  a  distinct  disavowal  of  any  such  intention  as  herein  stated.  Diffi 
culties  of  that  nature  were  certainly  not  contemplated  by  us  when  we 
dispatched  a  large  part  of  our  effective  force  into  the  interior  for  the 
purpose  of  receiving  the  unfortunate  women  and  children,  the  survivors 
of  the  massacre  at  Wailatpu,  who  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians. 
It  was  never  supposed  that  our  establishment  would  be  exposed  to  insult 
or  injury  from  American  citizens,  while  we  are  braving  the  fury  of  the 
Indians  for  their  protection." 

What  a  powerful  and  noble  company,  and  how  much  "fury  of  the 
Indians"  they  had  to  contend  with,  when  they  were  handing  them 
guns  and  ammunition  by  the  quantity ;  and  all  their  servants  and  posts 
were  unharmed  by  either  whites  or  Indians,  during  all  the  Indian  wars 
that  have  occurred  on  this  coast.  This  letter  continues  : — 

"  Such  a  proceeding  would,  in  fact,  be  so  inconsistent  with  every 
principle  of  honor  and  sound  policy,  that  I  can  not  believe  any  attempt 
of  the  kind  will  be  made ;  but  I  trust  this  explanation  will  satisfactorily 
account  for  any  unusual  precaution  observed  in  the  present  arrange 
ment  of  this  establishment. 

"  Trusting  that  this  note  will  be  noticed  at  your  earliest  convenience, 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir, 

"  Your  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 

"  JAMES  DOUGLAS,  C.  F.,  H.  B.  Co." 

Mr.  Douglas,  in  this  letter,  has  suddenly  assumed  a  very  honorable, 
as  well  as  powerful  position.  As  to  his  personal  bravery,  there  is  no 
question  ;  but  as  to  truth,  there  is.  He  says,  "  I  can  not  believe  any 
attempt  of  the  kind  will  be  made,"  and  then  tells  us  not  to  be  alarmed ; 
or,  at  least,  as  the  "  rumor  having  been  in  circulation,"  we  must  excuse 
him  for  his  "  unusual  precaution  "  in  his  establishment,  while  he  has 
deceived,  and  intends  to  continue  to  deceive,  the  governor  and  the 
settlers  as  to  his  real  motives  of  caution,  and  the  deep-laid  schemes 
that  he  and  his  "powerful  British  association"  are  bringing  about,  not 
against  the  "fury  of  the  Indians"  but  against  the^  American  settle 
ments. 

As  was  to  be  expected  in  those  times,  our  governor  and  General 
Gilliam  wilted  right  down,  and  the  governor  wrote : — 


GOVERNOR  ABERNETHY'S  LETTER.  555 

"OREGON  CITY,  January  3,  1848. 

"  SIR, — I  received  your  favor  of  31st  ultimo  yesterday  evening,  and, 
in  answering  it,  would  thank  you  for  your  frankness  in  communicating 
with  me  on  the  subject.  Having  had  conversation  with  Colonel  Gil- 
Ham  on  this  subject,  I  can  state  that  he  has  no  intention  of  levying  con- 
tributions  on  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  property  for  any  purpose 
whatever.  He  will  probably  cross  the  Columbia  River  at  the  mouth 
of  Sandy." 

This  was  the  information  that  Mr.  Douglas  wished  to  obtain,  as  we 
have  since  learned  from  one  of  the  company's  clerks,  and  also  the 
extent  of  information  received  from  Mr.  Lee  by  his  express. 

"  I  trust  nothing  will  occur  that  will  in  any  way  cause  distrust  among 
the  whites  during  this  crisis.  The  reports  from  above  lead  to  the  con 
clusion  that  Messrs.  Spalding,  Walker,  and  Eells  have  been  cut  off,  and 
the  women  and  children,  spared  in  the  first  place,  have  since  been  mur 
dered.  Should  these  rumors  prove  true,  we  know  that  peace  can  not  be 
restored  between  the  Indians  and  whites  without  bloodshed." 

As  near  as  we  can  learn,  Governor  Abernethy  was  disposed  to  follow 
the  counsels  of  a  writer  in  the  Spectator,  signed  "Veritas,"  which  was, 
to  wait  till  spring  opened,  and  then  make  a  decent  demonstration  in 
the  summer  to  punish  the  murderers.  The  energy  of  the  people  over 
ruled  his  tender  spirit,  to  use  no  harsher  term,  and  pushed  their  forces 
up  in  the  winter,  which  allowed  most  of  the  men  to  return  in  time  to 
secure  the  following  harvest,  and  produced  the  desired  effect  upon  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  Indians.  The  governor  says: — 

"  Captain  Lee  informs  me  that  Mr.  Ogden  paid  the  Indians  powder 
and  ball  for  making  the  portage.  The  Legislature  passed  an  act  during 
their  last  session  prohibiting  the  sale  of  powder,  lead,  caps,  etc.,  to 
Indians.  I  trust  you  will  see  the  necessity  of  complying  with  this  act ; 
it  will  be  published  in  the  next  Spectator. 

11 1  trust  the  disavowal  in  this  letter  will  prove  satisfactory  to  you. 
I  have  the  honor  to  remain,  sir, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  GEORGE  ABERNETHY." 

The  next  day,  the  4th  of  January,  Mr.  Douglas  returned  a  long 
letter,  which  is  as  follows  : — 

"  FORT  VANCOUVER,  January  4,>  1 848. 
*c  George  Abernethy,  Esq.  : 

"  SIR, — I  have  to  acknowledge  yours  of  yesterday's  date,  and  con 
sider  it  perfectly  satisfactory.  I  place  little  confidence  in  the  late 


556  HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 

reports  from  the  Dalles,  and  entertain  sanguine  hopes  that  they  will 
prove  unfounded. 

"  The  Indians  have  been  always  paid  with  ammunition  and  tobacco 
by  our  traveling  parties,  for  passing  boats  at  the  portages  of  this  river, 
and  I  can  not  see  that  Mr.  Ogden  had  any  reason  to  depart  from  the 
established  practice  on  the  occasion  mentioned  in  your  letter,  as  these 
Indians  have  no  fellow-feelings  with  the  Cay  uses." 

This  statement  of  Sir  James  is  notoriously  untrue ;  the  Cayuses  have 
always  had  more  or  less  trade  with  the  Dalles  Indians,  in  dried  salmon, 
horses,  etc.,  and  have  always  been  the  superiors,  and  treated  them  as 
they  pleased.  Mr.  Douglas  has  invariably  cautioned  us,  in  passing 
those  portages,  not  to  give  ammunition,  as  it  was  against  the  rules  of 
the  company  to  do  so,  except  to  a  very  few,  and  in  small  quantities,  and 
that  for  packing  goods  by  trusty  Indians.  This  sudden  change  from 
tobacco  to  powder  is  only  a  part  of  the  policy  now  being  executed. 

"  These  Indians  behaved  in  the  most  friendly  manner,  and,  I  am  con. 
vinced,  will  not  enter  into  any  combination  against  the  whites,  unless 
there  be  great  mismanagement  on  our  part. 

"  In  fact,  when  we  consider  the  object  of  Mr.  Ogden's  journey  to 
Wallawalla  [which  we  consider  really  to  have  been  to  inform  the 
Indians,  as  he  did,  that  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  would  take  no  part 
in  this  quarrel  between  the  Indians  and  Americans,  and  that  the  com 
pany  would  supply  them  with  ammunition  and  aid  them  in  the  present 
war,  we  are  not  disposed  to  question  but  that  the  lives  of  some  of  the 
men  that  were  left  would  have  been  taken,  but  we  doubt  if  any  more 
women  would  have  been  killed,  unless  the  company  had  consented  to  it ; 
but  it  answered  for  a  plausible  argument  for  Sir  James,  who  says], 
and  that  the  lives  of  sixty  or  seventy  fellow-creatures  were,  under 
Providence,  mainly  dependent  on  the  celerity  of  his  movements,  it  can 
not  be  supposed  he  would  allow  any  minor  consideration  to  weigh  one 
moment  in  his  mind  against  the  great  object  of  their  preservation.  As 
he  could  not  carry  his  boats  over  the  portages  of  the  falls  without  the 
assistance  of  the  Indians,  it  would  have  been  an  act  of  great  indis 
cretion  on  his  part  to  have  excited  alarm  and  created  suspicion  in 
their  minds." 

Doctor  Saffron,  in  answer  to  the  interrogatory,  "  In  what  way  did 
you  become  acquainted  with  the  Whitman  massacre  ?"  makes  the  fol 
lowing  reply:  "  I  was  residing  at  the  Dalles  mission  when  the  Canadian, 
bearing  an  express  from  Fort  Nez  Perces  to  Vancouver,  came  to  the 
station  and  ate  dinner,  and  with  whom  Mr.  Hiuman  went  to  the  lodge, 
and  secured  a  canoe  to  assist  him  on  his  way  to  Vancouver,  and  went 
to  Vancouver  with  him.  A  very  short  time  after  they  were  off, — I  did 


MR.  DOUGLAS'S  LETTER.  557- 

not  think  they  had  scarcely  got  off  before  the  Indians  came  from  the 
lodges,  and  told  what  they  said  the  Frenchman  had  told  them,  that 
Doctor  Whitman  was  killed.  The  next  information  was  from  an 
Indian  lad  from  Des  Chutes,  who  came  on  horseback,  in  great  haste,  and 
said  that  two  Cayuses  were  at  Des  Chutes,  and  had  told  them  that  Dr. 
Whitman,  his  wife,  and  all  his  people  were  killed,  except  the  women, 
who  had  been  taken  for  wives  for  the  chiefs.  In  giving  the  causes 
which  the  two  Cayuses  had  given  them,  he  spoke  of  the  sickness,  and 
also  that  the  priests  had  made  known  to  them  that  the  Doctor  was  a 
dangerous  medicine  man  to  have  among  them,  and  said  something  of 
their  having  said  about  the  Doctor's  medicines  being  the  cause  of  their 
dying  ;  and  also  of  what  Mr.  McBean  had  said  of  Dr.  Whitman's  de 
termining  to  have  all  their  spotted  horses.  I  can  be  certain  as  to  the 
priests'  part,  but  not  so  certain  as  to  McBean's  part,  being  said  by  the 
young  Indian  at  that  time,  or  told  me  afterward  by  other  Indians." 
Dr.  Saffron  states  in  this  deposition  that  the  Indians  were  very 
threatening  about  the  station,  and  that  he  thinks  the  reason  they  did 
not  commence  the  massacre  of  all  at  the  station  was  the  report  that 
Mr.  Ogden  was  just  below  with  a  party.  "  On  Mr.  Ogden's  arrival,  we 
stated  to  him  these  things,  and  he  informed  Mr.  Hinman  that  we  had 
letter  get  away  as  soon  as  possible,  which  we  did." 

In  this  letter  from  Mr.  Douglas,  in  answer  to  Governor  Abernethy, 
about  supplying  the  Indians  with  powder,  etc.,  he  says: — 

"It  would  have  been  an  act  of  great  indiscretion  on  his  part  to 
have  excited  alarm  and  caused  suspicion  in  their  minds  by  withhold 
ing  the  compensation  of  two  or  three  pounds  of  gunpowder  and  lead, 
which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  receive  for  such  service,  when  it 
was  certain  that  the  omission  would  be  regarded  as  evidence  of  a  hos 
tile  intent,  and  induce  them  to  put  every  possible  obstacle  in  his  way, 
whereby  the  object  of  the  journey  must  have  been  entirely  defeated, 
and  the  unfortunate  women  and  children  left  to  their  cruel  fate. 

"  To  prohibit  the  sale  of  ammunition  within  certain  districts  in  arms 
against  the  whites  would  be  the  proper  course ;  but  to  extend  the  meas 
ure  to  every  part  of  the  country  is  to  make  the  innocent  suffer  with 
the  guilty,  and  a  departure  from  the  conciliatory  course  of  policy  which 
we  have  always  found  to  answer  best  with  Indians ;  and  will,  I  much 
fear,  drive  them  to  the  most  desperate  course.  I  am  now  only  express 
ing  an  opinion  on  what  the  law  is  reported  to  be,  and  await  the  next 
issue  of  the  Spectator  with  some  impatience,  to  discover  its  real  char 
acter  and  value. 

"  You  may  rest  assured  that  we  will  do  nothing  improper,  or  which 
Will,  in  any  way,  endanger  the  safety  of  the  country. 


558  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

"  We  have  not  yet  heard  from  Mr.  Ogden  since  he  left  the  Dalles,  but 
are  now  daily  expecting  to  hear  from  him. 
"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir, 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  JAMES  DOUGLAS." 

The  careless  reader,  or  one  that  is  disposed  to  regard  Sir  James 
Douglas  as  an  honorable,  truthful,  and  upright  man,  will,  on  first  read 
ing  this  letter,  in  all  probability,  consider  it  a  satisfactory  reply  to 
Governor  Abernethy,  and  his  reasons  sufficient  to  justify  Mr.  Ogden's 
course  at  the  Dalles  and  at  Wallawalla. 

Doctor  Saffron  tells  us,  under  oath,  "  On  Mr.  Ogden's  arrival,  we 
stated  to  him  these  things,"  about  the  massacre,  the  priests,  McBean, 
and  the  Indians  threatening,  which  Mr.  Ogden  admits  in  his  letter  to 
Mr.  Walker,  when  he  advised  them  to  leave.  He  then  proceeds  on  up 
the  river,  and  does  a  thing  which  Sir  James  says  was  common,  which 
we  know  Mr.  Douglas  has  said  to  us  was  not  common,  for  the  company 
to  give  ammunition  to  the  Indians  for  making  those  portages. 

On  the  present  occasion,  knowing  all  the  facts,  and  the  danger  to  the 
lives  of  all  at  the  Dalles  station,  Mr.  Ogden  deliberately  gave  (Mr. 
Douglas  says,  "as  usual")  an  unusual  amount  of  war  material;  he 
then  proceeds  to  Wallawalla,  called  the  Indians  together,  and  gave 
them  "  twelve  common  guns,  six  hundred  loads  of  ammunition,  twelve 
flints,  thirty-seven  pounds  tobacco,  sixty-two  three-point  blankets,  sixty- 
three  common  cotton  shirts." 

And  what  was  the  service  that  these  Indians  had  rendered,  for  which 
these  goods  were  given  by  this  "powerful  organization  ?"  Six  years 
before,  when  a  Hudson's  Bay  servant  got  into  a  drunken  row,  and  was 
killed  by  an  Indian  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  the  Americans  and 
company  went  in  a  body,  and  demanded  and  hung  the  murderer ;  but 
now,  when  Dr.  Whitman  and  fifteen  other  Americans  are  murdered, 
Mr.  Ogden  goes  up  and  pays  them  more  guns,  ammunition,  blankets, 
and  shirts,  than  had  ever  before  been  given  to  them  on  any  one  occa 
sion.  Was  that  company  weaker  at  this  time  than  they  had  been 
before,  that  they  could  not  manage  or  conquer  the  Cayuses  ?  Sir 
James  Douglas,  under  oath,  says  the  company  in  1846  "practically 
enjoyed  a  monopoly  of  the  fur  trade,  and  possessed  extraordinary  influ 
ence  with  the  natives"  And  we  say,  the  Whitman  massacre  is  the 
result  of  that  influence. 

Mr.  Ogden,  distinctly,  and  at  several  times,  insisted  upon  the  distinc 
tion  necessary  to  be  made  between  the  affairs  of  the  Americans  and 
the  company,  and  why  ?  Simply,  because  the  company  had  determined 


LEE'S  BATTLE   WITH  THE  INDIANS.  559 

to  suppress  and  crush  the  American  settlements,  if  it  could  be  done,  by 
the  Indians.  They  were  now  in  a  condition  to  furnish  the  Indians 
directly,  or  clandestinely,  through  their  Jesuit  missionaries,  all  the 
ammunition  required.  Hence  the  liberality  of  Mr.  Ogden,  and  the  care 
of  Mr.  Douglas  to  catch  "a  rumor"  to  defend  Mr.  Ogden's  course; 
to  manifest  great  sympathy  for  the  sufferers,  to  deceive  the  settlement 
in  every  way  possible ;  and  refuse,  under  the  plea  of  the  "  stringent 
rules  of  the  home  department"  to  supply  munitions  to  the  provi 
sional  troops. 

On  the  23d  of  February,  Colonel  Gilliam,  with  fifty  of  his  men,  arrived 
at  Wascopum,  an  express  having  been  sent  by  Major  Lee  for  him  to 
hasten  forward  with  his  troops.  On  his  arrival,  he  learned  that  the  Des 
Chutes  Indians  were  hostile.  Was  Mr.  Douglas  correct  in  his  opinion  ? 

The  main  body  of  his  troops  having  arrived  on  the  27th,  he  started 
with  130  of  his  best  mounted  men,  crossed  Des  Chutes,  and  ascended  on 
its  east  or  right  bank.  On  the  28th,  he  sent  forward  Major  Lee  with 
twenty  men  to  find  the  Indians,  they  all  having  fled  from  their  usual 
encampments.  At  twelve  o'clock  at  night,  Major  Lee  returned,  having 
found  the  Indians,  and  made  the  following  report,  which  we  give  in  Major 
Lee's  own  language.  He  says  : — 

^  We  proceeded  this  morning  up  the  river  some  twenty  miles,  when 
we  discovered  a  considerable  party  of  Indians  with  their  families, 
removing  across  the  plains,  and  evidently  to  station  themselves  higher 
up  the  canon,  which  was  close  by.  We  charged  upon  them,  killed  one, 
took  two  females  prisoners,  and  several  horses ;  the  rest  escaped  into  the 
canon,  which  was  close  by.  Expecting  a  large  war  party  out  immedi 
ately,  we  hastened  toward  camp  with  the  prisoners,  but  had  not  pro 
ceeded  far  when  we  discovered  a  large  party  of  mounted  Indians  making 
after  us  with  all  possible  speed ;  we  rode  down  into  a  small  caiion, 
turned  our  horses  loose  below  us,  and  prepared  for  battle, — the  In 
dians  by  this  time  all  around  us  on  the  hills,  tumbling  down  huge 
stones  in  our  midst,  and  annoying  us  much  with  their  savage  yells, 
some  with  their  arms.  We  were  fighting  some  two  or  three  hours,  killed 
and  wounded,  I  suppose,  some  six  or  eight,  as  they  took  care  to  keep 
at  a  respectful  distance.  They  drew  no  blood  from  us,  and  got  only 
in  return  for  their  loss  their  horses  which  we  had  taken,  with  four 
or  five  of  ours  that  went  out  with  them,  unperceived,  through  a  small 
caiion,  during  the  engagement.  We  have  all  returned  safe,  though 
much  fatigued." 

On  the  29th  of  this  month  the  whole  of  the  camp  moved  to  the 
mouth  of  the  canon,  at  the  Meek  crossing.  On  the  30th,  ten  A.  M., 
as  they  entered  the  mouth  of  the  canon,  the  Indians  appeared  on  the 


560  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

hills  immediately  above,  drawn  up  in  order  of  battle,  to  about  their 
own  number.  The  colonel  ordered  his  horses  and  train  to  a  safe  position 
under  a  strong  guard,  dismounted  his  men,  ascended  the  hill,  drove 
and  killed,  as  was  supposed,  some  twenty  or  thirty  Indians,  with  but 
one  man  (a  Spaniard)  slightly  wounded,  capturing  forty  horses,  four 
head  of  cattle,  and  three  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  personal  property, 
which  the  colonel  had  sold  to  the  regiment,  and  credited  to  the  pay 
master,  amounting  to  fourteen  hundred  dollars.  Mr.  Brown,  first 
lieutenant,  5th  company,  died  at  Vancouver.  The  skirmishing  and 
battle  with  the  Des  Chutes  Indians  brought  them  to  terms,  and 
a  treaty  of  peace  was  made  with  them.  The  army  was  re-enforced 
by  the  arrival  of  Captain  McKay's  company  of  British  subjects, 
as  claimed  by  a  writer  in  the  Spectator,  of  February  24,  1848,  who 


"  The  party  consisted  of  two  Canadians,  fifty  or  sixty  half-breeds, — 
all  British  subjects, — and  two  or  three  American  citizens,  while  there  is 
not  a  single  Frenchman  in  it.  It  is  due  to  the  British  subjects,  Cana 
dians,  and  half -breeds,  to  state,  that  many  more  would  have  gone,  but, 
they  know  well,  that  winter  is  not  the  time,  in  this  country,  to  go  to 
war,  and  that  all  that  can  be  done  at  this  season  is,  to  rescue  the  pris 
oners,  which  could  be  effected  only  by  negotiation,  .and  acquire  cor 
rect  information,  and  make  all  preparations  necessary,  so  as  to  be  able 
to  act  with  the  propriety,  decorum,  and  energy  which  the  case  required. 

"VEKITAS." 

By  the  statements  of  "  Yeritas,"  the  feelings  of  the  British  subjects 
in  our  midst,  at  that  time,  can  be  seen.  He  evidently  wished  to  claim 
credit  for  the  British  and  half-breed  subjects,  who,  in  the  operations 
of  the  provisional  army,  were  found  to  be,  to  use  no  harsher  term,  a 
nuisance  in  the  American  camp,  keeping  the  Indians  and  murderers 
well  informed  as  to  all  the  movements  of  the  army,  so  that  while  they 
were  permitted  to  remain,  no  movement  of  the  army  produced  any 
satisfactory  results. 

This  statement  is  made  upon  the  verbal  information  given  to  us  at 
the  time,  as  well  as  from  personal  knowledge,  and  a  letter  of  Colonel 
Waters  to  Governor  Abernethy,  under  date,  Wailatpu,  April  4,  1848, 
in  the  Spectator,  April  20,  1848.  The  colonel  says  of  the  Indians, 
"  They  know  our  circumstances  about  as  well  as  we  do  ourselves,  both 
as  regards  ammunition  and  provisions,  and  it  need  not  be  thought 
strange  if  they  act  accordingly." 

Soon  after  the  re-enforcement  of  this  provisional  army  by  Captain  T. 


COLONEL  GILLIAM'S  BATTLE  WITH  INDIANS. 

McKay's  British  subjects,  there  was  a  general  engagement  or  battle. 
It  commenced  while  the  army  was  on  the  march  in  the  open  rolling 
prairie,  between  Mud  Spring  and  the  Umatilla.  Nicholas  Finlay,  of 
the  Whitman-massacre  notoriety,  met  the  scouts  and  officers,  and  while 
there  was  a  consultation,  or  parley,  it  appears  he  prolonged  it,  to  give 
time  for  the  main  body  of  the  Indians  to  surround  the  troops;  he  then 
turned  his  horse,  rode  a  short  distance  toward  a  party  of  Indians,  and 
discharged  his  gun  in  the  air,  as  a  signal  to  commence  the  attack,  while 
the  peace  commissioners  were  attempting  to  effect  a  compromise. 

At  Finlay's  signal,  from  five  to  seven  hundred  Indian  warriors 
appeared  on  the  plains  all  about  them,  with  from  two  to  three  hundred 
Indian  camp-followers,  as  spectators,  all  on  horseback,  consisting  of 
boys  and  women,  who  had  come  to  see  the  slaughter,  and  gather  up  the 
property  that  the  Americans  were  going  to  throw  down  and  run  from, 
as  soon  as  Nicolas  Finlay  fired  his  gun,  and  the  warriors  raised  the 
yell.  But  instead  of  this,  Colonel  Gilliam,  as  soon  as  Finlay  made  his 
appearance,  and  other  Indians  were  seen  in  the  distance,  ordered  a  hol 
low  square  to  be  formed  to  protect  his  train  and  cattle,  and  by  the  time 
the  Indians  were  ready,  he  was,  and  the  fight  commenced,  a  sort  of 
running,  dashing,  and,  on  the  part  of  the  Indians,  retreating  perform 
ance.  There  being  no  water  near  the  place  where  the  attack  was  com 
menced,  it  became  necessary  to  continue  upon  the  march,  and  they 
drove  the  Indians  before  them,  till  they  reached  water  at  night.  By 
this  time  the  Indians  found  that  the  Bostons  were  not  all  clochemen 
(women),  as  they  had  been  told  by  the  "British  half-breeds." 

A  stranger  would  naturally  conclude  from  the  accounts  published  in 
the  Spectator  at  that  time,  that  the  company  under  Captain  T.  McKay 
did  all  the  fighting  on  this  occasion.  They,  we  infer  from  the  printed 
account  as  given  in  C.  McKay's  letter,  made  some  gallant  dashes  in 
true  Indian  style,  and  as  prudent  retreats  back  to  the  protection  of  the 
"Boston  men"  making  a  great  show  of  bravery  and  fight,  without 
much  effect.  At  the  close  of  this  demonstration,  the  Indians  retired  in 
their  usual  confused  manner,  while  the  Americans  moved  on  to  find 
water  and  a  camp  for  the  night.  They  continued  their  march  till  they 
reached  Fort  Waters,  at  Wailatpu. 

At  this  place  the  commissioners  called  for  the  principal  chiefs  of  all 
friendly  tribes  to  meet  them,  to  have  a  big  talk.  In  this  council,  one 
Cayuse  war-chief,  Camaspelo,  and  two  of  the  lower  grade  of  the  Nez 
Perces, — Joseph  and  Red  Wolf, — with  several  prominent  Indians  of  the 
Nez  Perces,  were  present,  and  received  the  commissioners  with  the 
governor's  letter,  and  made  the  speeches  hereafter  given. 

Governor  Abernethifs  address  to  the  Indians  asserted  the  fact,  that 
36 


562  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Dr.  Whitman  was  invited  by  the  Indians  themselves  to  remain  in  their 
country,  and  teach  them  the  arts  of  civilization,  agriculture,  a  knowl 
edge  of  books  and  of  religion  ;  that  the  Indians  had  not  regarded  the 
Doctor's  instructions,  else  they  would  not  have  stolen  property  belong 
ing  to  the  immigrants,  and,  on  the  29th  of  November,  murdered  him  and 
Mrs.  Whitman.  That  the  Doctor,  in  giving  them  medicine,  was  not 
poisoning  them,  but  doing  all  he  could  to  save  their  lives,  and  relieve 
their  sick.  That  Americans  died  of  the  disease  as  well  as  the  Indians. 
That  if  the  Doctor  was  poisoning  them,  which  they  knew  was  not  the 
case,  why  did  they  kill  all  the  Americans  at  his  place  ?  That  the  Doc 
tor  was  their  best  friend,  and  always  trying  to  do  them  good ;  and 
now  he  required  of  them,  that  they  should  give  up  the  murderers,  and 
those  who  had  taken  and  forced  young  women  to  be  their  wives,  to  be 
punished  according  to  our  laws.  He  named  Tilokaikt  and  Tamsaky 
in  particular.  They  were  also  required  to  restore  or  pay  for  the  prop 
erty  stolen  from  the  immigrants,  while  on  their  way  to  the  Wallamet 
Valley. 

CAMASPELO  (a  Cayuse  chief). — "My  people  seem  to  have  two  hearts. 
I  have  but  one ;  my  heart  is  as  the  Nez  Perces.  I  have  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  murder.  Tamsaky  came  to  me  to  get  my  consent  to 
the  murder,  before  it  was  committed.  I  refused.  I  pointed  to  my 
sick  child,  and  told  him  my  heart  was  there  and  not  on  murder ;  he 
went  back  and  told  his  friends  he  had  obtained  my  consent ;  it  was 
false.  I  did  not  give  my  consent  to  the  murder,  neither  will  I  protect 
or  defend  the  murderers." 

JOSEPH  (a  Nez  Perce  chief,  half-brother  of  Five  Crows). — "  Now  I 
show  my  heart.  When  I  left  my  home  I  took  the  book  (a  testament 
Mr.  Spalding  had  given  him)  in  my  hand  and  brought  it  with  me ;  it 
is  my  light.  I  heard  the  Americans  were  coming  to  kill  me.  Still  I 
held  my  book  before  me,  and  came  on.  I  have  heard  the  words  of 
your  chief.  I  speak  for  all  the  Cayuses  present  and  all  my  people.  I 
do  not  wish  my  children  engaged  in  this  war,  although  my  brother 
(Five  Crows)  is  wounded.  You  speak  of  the  murderers ;  I  shall  not 
meddle  with  them ;  I  bow  my  head ;  this  much  I  speak." 

JACOB. — This  Indian  had  once  been  a  celebrated  medicine  man  among 
the  Nez  Perces.  He  said :  "  It  is  the  law  of  this  country  that  the 
murderer  shall  die.  That  law  I  keep  in  my  heart,  because  I  believe  it 
is  the  law  of  God, — the  first  law.  I  started  to  see  the  Americans,  and 
when  on  the  way  I  heard  the  Americans  were  coming  to  kill  all  the 
Indians ;  still  I  came.  I  have  heard  your  speech,  and  am  thankful. 
When  I  left  home  I  believed  the  Americans  were  coming  for  the  mur 
derers  only.  I  thank  the  governor  for  his  good  talk." 


INDIAN  SPEECHES.  503 

JAMES  was  an  old  Indian  who  was  for  a  long  time  a  pet  of  Mr.  Spal 
ding' s  ;  but,  through  the  influence  of  Mr.  Pambrun  and  the  priest,  he 
had  been  induced  to  receive  a  cross  and  a  string  of  beads.  He  was  the 
acknowledged  owner  of  the  land  on  which  the  Lapwai  station  was 
located,  and,  by  the  influence  above  referred  to,  caused  Mr.  Spalding 
considerable  annoyance,  though  nothing  of  the  difficulty  asserted 
by  Brouillet, page  14.  He  says:  "The  Indians  then  met  together  and 
kept  all  the  whites  who  lived  at  the  station  blockaded  in  their  houses 
for  more  than  a  month."  Living  at  the  station  at  the  time,  I  know 
there  was  no  quarrel  or  disturbance  with  the  Indians,  nor  were  any 
at  the  station  confined  to  their  houses  for  a  moment  at  any  time, 
as  stated  by  this  priest ;  it  is  one  of  a  great  number  of  just  such 
statements  made  to  cover  their  guilt  in  a  great  crime. 

Old  James  said :  "  I  have  heard  your  words  and  my  heart  is  glad. 
When  I  first  heard  of  this  murder,  our  white  brother  Spalding  was 
down  here ;  I  heard  the  Cayuses  had  killed  him  also,  and  my  heart  was 
very  sad.  A  few  days  after,  when  he  returned,  I  met  him  as  one  arose 
from  the  dead.  We  spoke  together ;  he  said  he  would  go  to  Wallamet. 
I  told  him  to  tell  the  chiefs  there  my  heart.  We  have  been  listening  for 
some  word  from  him.  All  these  chiefs  are  of  one  heart." 

RED  WOLF  was  connected  by  marriage  with  the  Cayuses,  and,  it 
seems  from  his  speech,  was  instructed  as  to  the  information  he  should 
give  to  the  Americans.  He  says:  "You  speak  of  Doctor  Whitman's 
body.  When  I  heard  of  the  Doctor's  death,  I  came  and  called  for  the 
murderers.  I  wished  to  know  if  it  was  the  work  of  the  chiefs.  I  went 
to  Tawatowe,  and  found  it  was  not  of  all,  but  of  the  young  men.  I 
did  not  sleep.  I  went .  to  Mr.  Spalding  and  told  him  the  chiefs  were 
engaged  in  it.  Mr.  Spalding  said,  '  I  go  to  Wallamet  and  will  say  the 
!N"ez  Perces  have  saved  my  life,  and  I  will  go  to  Wallamet  and  save 
yours.'  We  have  all  been  listening  to  hear  from  the  white  chief." 

TIMOTHY. — This  Indian  had  always  been  a  firm  friend  of  the  Ameri 
cans,  and  of  the  mission,  and  was  a  consistent  member  of  the  mission 
church.  He  seems  to  have  taken  no  decided  part.  He  says :  "  You 
hear  these  chiefs ;  they  speak  for  all.  I  am  as  one  in  the  air.  I  do  not 
meddle  with  these  things ;  the  chiefs  speak ;  we  are  all  of  the  same 
mind." 

RICHARD  was  one  of  the  Indian  boys  taken  to  the  States  by  Doctor 
Whitman  from  the  American  rendezvous  in  1835,  and  brought  back  in 
1836,  and  was  always  more  or  less  about  the  mission.  He  was  an 
active  and  intelligent  young  Indian,  and  was  basely  murdered  by  a 
Catholic  Indian  after  being  appointed  a  chief  by  Indian  Agent  H.  A.  G. 
Lee.  He  said :  "  I  feel  thankful  for  the  kind  words  of  your  chief. 


564  HISTORY  OF  OHEGOX. 

My  people  will  take  no  part  in  this  matter.  Our  hearts  cling  to  that 
which  is  good.  We  do  not  love  blood.  This  is  the  way  our  old  chief 
(Cut  Nose)  talked ;  his  last  words  were :  '  I  leave  you ;  love  that  which 
is  good,  be  always  on  the  side  of  right,  and  you  will  prosper.'  His 
children  remember  his  words.  He  told  us,  take  no  bad  advice.  Why 
should  I  take  bad  words  from  your  enemies,  and  throw  your  good 
words  away  ?  Your  chiefs  words  are  good  ;  I  thank  him  for  them. 
My  chief  is  in  the  buffalo  country ;  he  will  be  glad  to  hear  I  talk  thus  to 
you.  They  would  be  sorry  should  I  talk  otherwise.  This  much  I  tell 
you  of  the  hearts  of  my  people." 

KENTUCK,  a  good-natured,  sensible,  and  yet  apparently  crazy  In 
dian,  said:  "The  chiefs  have  all  spoken;  I  have  listened,  and  now 
I  wish  to  speak  a  little.  I  have  been  much  with  the  Americans  and 
French ;  they  know  my  heart,  can  any  one  tell  any  thing  bad  of  me  ? 
In  war  with  the  Blackfeet,  I  and  my  father  fought  with  the  Americans, 
and  my  father  was  killed  there.  He  (pointing  to  Mr.  Newell)  knows 
it.  Last  year  I  was  in  California  at  Captain  Butter's,  and  helped 
Captain  Fremont, — not  for  pay,  but  from  a  good  heart.  I  came  home, 
and  heard  the  Doctor  was  killed  !  We  heard  that  the  whites  were  told 
we  were  with  the  Cayuses.  We  have  not  such  hearts.  I  and  my  people 
are  from  the  furthermost  part  of  our  country.  We  had  heard  there 
that  you  were  coming  to  kill  off  the  last  Indian  west  of  the  mountains. 
We  have  never  shed  the  blood  of  the  Americans.  We  are  glad  to 
hear  that  you  want  none  but  the  murderers." 

In  the  Spectator  of  March  23,  1848,  we  find  the  following  letters  : — 

"  WAILATPU,  March  4,  1848. 
"  William  McLean,  Esq.  : 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  been  requested  by  Captain  McKay  to  apprise 
you  of  the  progress  we  have  made  in  adjusting  the  difficulties  between 
the  whites  and  Cayuses,  and  I  am  happy  to  say  that  matters  are 
assuming  a  favorable  appearance.  With  your  and  hfe  assistance,  with 
that  of  a  little  forbearance  on  the  part  of  the  troops,  I  believe  all  that 
could  be  devised  will  be  accomplished  without  further  shedding  of 
blood. 

"  Captain  McKay  thinks  that  Captain  Grant  (of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company)  can  travel  through  the  country  with  perfect  safety.  Mr. 
Meek  will  leave  the  first  of  the  week.  Doctor  Newell  will  write  to 
Captain  Grant,  according  to  your  request.  In  haste,  I  have  the  honor 
to  subscribe,  , 

"  Your  humble  servant, 

u  JOEL  PALMER." 


MR.   DOUGLAS'S  LETTER.  '  565 

DEAR  SIR, — I  only  have  time  to  say  a  word.     Stikas  was  here  yes 
terday,  and  things  look  more  favorable  since  Gervais  arrived.     I  wish 
to  go  down  when  your  people  go.     I  will  be  ready  in  a  few  days  and 
come  to  the  fort ;  no  time  for  particulars  ;  Mr.  Meek  leaves  to-night. 
"  With  respects,  yours,  etc.,  "  R.  NEWELL." 

"FoRT  VANCOUVER,  March  15,  1848. 
"  Governor  Abernethy,  Esq.  : 

"DEAR  SIR, — One  of  the  company's  servants  has  this  moment 
arrived  with  dispatches  from  Wallawalla,  of  date  the  7th  instant ; 
I  hasten  to  communicate  the  intelligence  received,  for  your  infor 
mation.  The  army  had  made  its  way  to  Wailatpu,  and  taken 
possession  of  the  remains  of  the  mission,  the  Cayuses  having  been 
defeated,  with  considerable  loss,  some  days  previously,  in  a  pitched 
battle  near  the  Umatilla  River ;  and  had  since  fallen  back  upon  the  Nez 
Perce  country.  Serpent  Jaune,  chief  of  the  Wallawalla  tribe,  had 
visited  the  commissioners,  and  decided  on  remaining  quiet ;  the  Nez 
Perces  had  in  part  also  decided  for  peace,  and  were  expected  in  camp 
within  a  few  days.  The  remaining  part  of  the  tribe  appeared  still 
undecided  about  the  part  they  would  take,  and  will,  no  doubt,  be  much 
influenced  in  their  future  conduct  by  the  success  which  attends  the 
operations  of  the  army.  Their  sympathies  are  with  the  Cayuses'  but 
fear  may  restrain  them  from  taking  an  open  part  against  the  whites. 
The  Cayuses  remain,  therefore,  without  any  open  support  from  the 
more  powerful  tribes  in  their  neighborhood,  and  in  such  circumstances 
can  not  be  expected  to  make  a  very  protracted  defense. 

"  The  accompanying  copy  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  Palmer  possesses  much 
of  interest,  and  will  put  you  in  possession  of  further  particulars. 

"  Our  dates  from  Fort  Colville  are  up  to  the  23d  of  January;  the 
Indians  were  all  quiet  and  well  disposed,  though  they  had  been  severe 
sufferers  from  the  measles  and  dysentery.  Their  detestation  of  the 
brutal  conduct  of 'the  Cayuses  has  been  openly  and  generally  expressed, 
as  well  as  their  determination  to  oppose  the  repetition  of  such  atroci 
ties  in  the  country.  Messrs.  Walker  and  Eells  have  been  induced,  by 
the  friendly  protestations  of  the  Indians  about  them,  to  continue  their 
residence  at  the  mission  near  Spokan. 

"  We  have  letters  from  Fort  Hall  up  to  the  30th  of  December.  A  city 
has  sprung  up,  as  if  by  enchantment,  in  the  midst  of  the  desert,  near 
the  southern  extremity  of  great  Salt  Lake.  It  contains  a  population  of 
3,000,  and  numbers  within  its  precincts  600  houses.  One  flour-mill  was 
in  operation,  and  four  saw-mills  were  nearly  finished. 

"  In  haste,  yours  truly,          "  JAMES  DOUGLAS." 


566  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

As  to  the  letter  of  General  Palmer,  he  has  informed  us  that,  while  he 
was  attempting  to  effect  an  arrangement  with  the  Indians,  he  was  sat 
isfied  that  McBean  was  using  his  influence  against  the  Americans,  and 
doing  all  he  could  to  keep  up  the  hostile  feelings  then  existing,  but,  by 
humoring  and  flattering  him,  he  would  do  less  harm  than  by  opposing 
his  self-conceit. 

As  to  Dr.  NewelPs  note,  it  showed  his  disposition  to  crawl  under  the 
shade  of  McBean  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  "people"  and  to  give  them  in 
formation  that  would  enable  them  to  cut  off  the  messenger  sent  to 
Washington. 

General  Palmer  informed  McBean  that  he  would  leave  the  first  of  the 
week.  Newell  says,  " Mr.  Meek  leaves  to-night" 

Mr.  Douglas  is  all  friendship  and  affection.  He  has  just  learned  that 
a  large  body  of  American  people  are  in  Salt  Lake  Valley,  and  that  the 
Indians  about  the  Spokan  station  are  friendly,  notwithstanding  the 
measles  and  dysentery  have  been  severe  among  them. 

The  Indians  had  been  defeated  with  considerable  loss,  but  the  "  sym 
pathies  of  the  Nez  Perces  are  with  the  Cayuses."  Whence  did  Sir 
James  get  this  information  ?  When  he  wished  to  convince  Governor 
Abernethy  that  Mr.  Ogden  had  done  right  in  giving  powder  and  ball 
for  making  the  portages  at  Des  Chutes,  he  said,  "  These  Indians  have 
no  fellow-feeling  with  the  Cayuses"  We  will  give  another  remarkable 
letter -,  in  answer  to  the  one  Mr.  Douglas  refers  to : — 

"FORT  NEZ  PERCES,  March  4,  1848. 
"  To  the  Commissioner  s,  Messrs.  Palmer  and  Newell : 

<c  GENTLEMEN, — I  have  to  acknowledge  your  esteemed  favor  of  this 
date,  which  was  handed  me  this  evening. 

"  I  am  happy  to  learn  that  your  success  to  effect  peace  has  so  far  re 
warded  your  endeavors,  and  that  the  Nez  Perces  are  on  your  side. 
Previous  to  their  visiting  you,  the  most  influential  chiefs  came  to  me, 
to  know  your  real  intention,  which  I  fully  explained,  artd  addressed  them 
at  length.  They  left  me  well  disposed,  and,  I  am  glad  to  learn,  have 
acted  up  to  their  promise." 

Put  this  statement  of  Mr.  McBean  by  the  side  of  that  of  Sir  James 
Douglas,  and  how  does  it  read  ?  March  7,  "  Their  sympathies  are  with 
'he  Cayuses"  What  are  we  to  understand  by  such  information  given 
o  two  different  parties?  Mr.  McBean  professes  to  know  the  views  of 
•he  Nez  Perces,  and,  on  March  4,  tells  the  American  commissioners 
ie  is  happy  to  learn  they  are  on  their  side ;  and,  three  days  after,  writes 
-o  his  superior,  at  Vancouver,  "  Their  sympathies  are  with  the  Cay  uses* 
oleneral  Palmer,  nor  any  one  else,  need  mistake  the  character  of  such  a 


McBEAN'S  INTERFERENCE.  557- 

man  ;  and  we  will  give  the  company  credit  for  ability  to  select  their 
men  to  perform  their  appropriate  business,  and  at  the  proper  time. 

"I  now  forward  letters  to  Fort  Hall  and  Fort  Boise,  and  have  to  re 
quest,  in  behalf  of  the  company,  that  you  be  kind  enough  to  get  them 
forwarded  by  Mr.  Meek.  They  are  of  importance.  On  their  being 
delivered  depends  loss  or  gain  to  the  company. 

"WILLIAM 


"  P.  S.  —  Please  present  my  best  respects  to  General  Gilliam  and 
Major  Lee." 

There  are  two  remarkable  facts  in  these  two  letters.  The  first,  "  the 
most  influential  chiefs  "  wertt  to  him,  and  he  explained  the  real  intentions 
of  the  Americans,  which,  according  to  his  report  to  his  superior,  made 
them  sympathize  with  the  Cayuses  ;  but  to  accomplish  another  object, 
he  would  have  us  believe  he  made  them  favorable  to  the  Americans,  and 
claims  all  the  credit  for  doing  so.  This  would  have  done  very  well, 
only  it  leaked  out,  in  the  speeches  of  the  Indians,  the  part  this  agent  of 
the  company  was  playing. 

Query  1.  How  came  the  Nez  Perces,  who  had  always  been  friendly 
with  the  Americans,  and  never  had  shed  any  of  their  blood,  but  always 
fought  with  and  for  them,  to  be  at  war  —  that  it  should  require  the 
consent  or  advice  of  McBean,  or  any  other  Hudson's  Bay  Company's 
servant  or  clerk,  to  go  and  make  peace  with  friends? 

Query  2.  The  importance  of  two  letters  to  Forts  Boise  and  Hall  ? 
The  loss  or  gain  to  the  company  was  of  more  importance  to  him  than 
the  lives  of  the  missionaries  and  all  at  the  Dalles,  for  he  would  not 
allow  his  messenger  to  inform  them  of  their  danger.  We  have  in  their 
communications  a  specimen  of  a  high  and  a  low  agent  of  that  company 
during  the  Cayuse  war.  The  Cayuse  tribe  was  always  more  dependent 
upon  Fort  N"ez  Perces  for  supplies  than  the  Nez  Perces,  who  have 
always  had  more  or  less  intercourse  with  American  traders.  From  the 
deposition  of  Mr.  Geiger,  we  learn  that  this  agent  (McBean)  of  the 
company  was  in  the  habit  of  interfering  with  the  affairs  of  the  American 
Indians  and  missionaries,  and  from  the  deposition  of  Mr.  Kimzey,  that 
he  was  equally  officious  in  favoring  the  Jesuit  missions.  And  now, 
from  his  own  officious  letter,  we  learn  his  position  in  relation  to  the 
war  then  in  progress  ;  that  he  was  attempting  to  deceive  the  com 
missioners,  as  to  his  operations  and  instructions  to  the  Indians,  is  shown 
in  the  information  he  communicated  to  Mr.  Douglas,  and  in  the  letter 
of  Colonel  Waters  to  Governor  Abernethy. 

Putting  all  these  facts  together,  who  is  responsible  for  the  massacre 
and  the  war  with  the  Cayuses  ? 


CHAPTER  LXIII. 

Letter  to  General  Lovejoy. — Call  for  men  and  ammunition. — Yankama  chief. — His 
speech. — Small  supply  of  ammunition. — Letter  of  Joseph  Cadwallader. — Claim  and  a 
girl. — Combined  Indian  tribes. — Ladies  of  Oregon. — Public  meeting. — A  noble 
address. — Vote  of  thanks. — Address  of  the  young  ladies. — Death  of  Colonel  Gilliam. 
— His  campaign. — Colonel  Waters'  letter. — Doubtful  position  of  Indians. — Number 
at  Fort  "Wallawalla. — Results  of  the  war. — Jesuit  letters. — Fathers  Hoikin  and  De 
Smet. — The  Choctaws. — Indian  confederacy. — Last  hope  of  the  Indian. — Jesuit 
policy. — The  Irish  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion. — Father  Hecker. — Boasts  of  the 
Jesuits. — Letter  of  Lieutenant  Rogers. — Priests  supply  the  Indians  with  arms  and 
ammunition. — Ammunition  seized. — Oregon  Argus. — Discovery  of  gold. — No  help 
for  the  Indian. — Withdrawal  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  Yancouver. — The 
smooth-tongued  Jesuits  yet  remain. 

LET  us  now  turn  our  attention  from  scenes  of  baseness  and  treachery 
to  such  as  can  not  fail  to  draw  forth  the  more  noble  sentiments  of  the 
heart.  We  find  in  the  Old  Spectator,  April  20,  1848  : — 

"  General  A.  L.  Lovejoy: 

"  SIR, — The  following  was  written  for  the  Express,  but  in  the  hurry 
and  bustle  of  business,  was  omitted  to  be  forwarded :  To  call  the 
men  (158)  who  fought  on  the  Tukanon  and  Tuchet  rivers  brave  were 
but  common  praise, — officers  and  privates  fought  with  unequaled 
bravery  and  skill.  Captains  Hall,  Owens,  and  Thompson  behaved 
with  all  that  deliberate  judgment  and  determined  bravery  that  was 
requisite  to  so  hard-fought  and  long-continued  a  battle. 

"  The  incomparable  services  of  Sergeant-Major  Birch,  Quartermaster 
Goodhue,  Judge-Advocate  Rinearson,  Sergeant  Cook,  Paymaster 
Magone,  can  not  be  passed  unnoticed,  and  deserve  their  country's 
praises.  Captains  English  and  McKay  were  not  in  the  engagement — 
the  latter  being  sick,  the  former  returning  from  the  Tuchet  with  the 
wagons  and  the  stock.  "  H.  J.  G.  MOXON, 

"  Commanding  at  Fort  Wascopum." 

"Four  WASCOPUM,  April  7,  1848. 
"  General  A.  L.  Lovejoy : 

"  SIR, — We  received  your  letter  of  instructions,  by  express,  on  the 
3d  instant,  and  I  assure  you  it  gave  me  great  satisfaction  to  make  them 


CAPTAIN   MOXON'S   INDIAN  COUNCIL.  569 

known  to  the  troops  under  my  command.  Since  the  promotion  of 
Major  Lee  to  the  command,  the  boys  have  taken  fresh  courage ;  though 
some  of  them  can  hardly  hide  their  nakedness,  they  are  willing  under 
your  promises  to  stick  it  out  like  men. 

"  Give  us  five  hundred  men,  and  plenty  of  ammunition,  with  Colonel 
Lee  at  our  head,  and  I  think  we  will  soon  bring  the  war  to  an  honor 
able  close. 

"  The  Yankama  chiefs  came  over  to  see  us  a  few  days  ago,  and 
stated  that  they  had  written  to  the  white  chief  but  had  received  no 
answer.  [Who  was  the  writer  for  the  Indians  ?  No  American  dare 
remain  in  the  country  beyond  the  protection  of  the  army.]  Therefore 
they  had  come  over  to  see  him.  They  spoke  to  us  as  follows  : — 

"  '  We  do  not  want  to  fight  the  Americans,  nor  the  French  ;  neither 
do  the  Spokans,  a  neighboring  tribe  to  us.  Last  fall  the  Cayuses  told 
us  that  they  were  about  to  kill  the  whites  at  Dr.  Whitman's.  We  told 
them  that  was  wrong,  which  made  them  mad  a£  us ;  and  when  they 
killed  them,  they  came  and  wished  us  to  fight  the  whites,  which  we 
refused.  We  loved  the  whites  ;  but  they  said,  if  you  do  not  help  us  to 
fight  the  whites,  when  we  have  killed  them  we  will  come  and  kill  you. 
This  made  us  cry ;  but  we  told  them  we  would  not  fight,  but  if  they 
desired  to  kill  us  they  might.  We  should  feel  happy  to  know  that  we 
die  innocently.' 

"I  answered  them  as  follows  :  '  We  are  glad  you  have  come,  because 
we  like  to  see  our  friends,  and  do  not  like  to  make  war  on  innocent 
people.  The  Great  Spirit  we  love  has  taught  us  that  it  is  wrong  to 
shed  innocent  blood ;  therefore  we  wish  everybody  to  be  our  friends. 
Our  peace  men  long  ago  sent  you  word,  that  we  did  not  come  to  make 
war  on  any  but  those  murderers  who  shed  the  blood  of  our  country 
men,  and  insulted  our  women.  When  we  get  those  wicked  men 
we  will  go  home,  but  those  we  will  have ;  if  not  now,  we  will  fight 
until  we  do  get  them.  We  do  not  want  to  kill  any  but  the  murderers ; 
but  all  who  fight  with  them,  we  consider  as  bad  as  they  are.  All 
tribes  which  receive  them  we  must  make  war  upon,  because  their 
hearts  are  bad,  and  we  know  that  the  Great  Spirit  is  angry  with  them. 
We  hope  your  nation  will  not  receive  them.  We  hope  that  you  will 
not  let  your  young  men  join  them,  because  we  do  not  wish  to  kill 
innocent  people.  We  hope,  that  if  the  murderers  come  among  you, 
you  will  bring  them  to  us ;  then  the  Great  Spirit  will  not  be  angry 
with  you.  We  that  fight  do  not  care  how  many  bad  people  we  have 
to  fight.  The  Americans  and  Hudson 's  Bay  Company  people  are  the 
same  as  one,  and  you  will  get  no  more  ammunition  until  the  war  is  at 
a  close.' 


570  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

"  I  gave  them  a  plow  as  a  national  gift,  and  told  them  that  I  gave 
that  kind  of  a  present  because  we  thought  tilling  the  ground  would 
make  them  happy.  They  remained  with  us  a  day  and  night,  and  then 
left  for  their  country  with  an  assurance  of  friendship. 

"  The  ammunition  boats  arrived  here  this  evening,  and  I  shall  start 
to-morrow  for  Wailatpu  with  nine  provision  wagons  and  baggage  wag 
ons  besides,  and  about  one  hundred  men  to  guard  them,  leaving  McKay's 
company  to  guard  this  place  until  Colonel  Lee's  arrival  here. 

"  The  scanty  supply  of  ammunition  sent  us  is  almost  disheartening. 
If  the  rumor  that  the  Indians  brought  us  this  evening  be  true,  I  fear  that 
we  will  have  to  shoot  the  most  of  it  at  the  Indians  before  we  can  reach 
the  boys.  The  Indians  reported  here  this  evening  that  the  horse-guard 
at  Wailatpu  was  killed  by  the  Indians,  and  all  the  horses  run  off.  I  shall 
lose  no  time,  I  assure  you,  but  will  relieve  them  with  all  possible  speed. 
"  Your  obedient  servant, 

«H.  J.  G.  MOXON,  S.  C.  C.  O.  D." 

We  will  not  stop  to  comment  on  the  facts  and  points  stated  in  this 
letter  relative  to  the  Yankama  Indians  and  Captain  Moxon's  remarks  to 
them,  but  continue  our  narrative  from  a  letter  of  Jesse  Cadwallader 
from  Fort  Waters,  April  4,  1848.  At  the  time  of  writing,  he  did  not 
know  of  Colonel  Gilliam's  death.  He  says: — 

"  At  present  we  are  not  in  a  very  pleasant  fix  for  fighting,  as  we  are 
but  150  in  number,  and  nearly  out  of  ammunition.  Colonel  Gilliam, 
with  the  rest  of  the  men,  left  here  on  the  20th  ult.  for  the  Dalles  for 
supplies.  We  look  for  them  in  a  few  days,  and  hope  to  see  more  men 
with  them.  We  look  for  the  Indians  to  come  upon  us  every  day.  They 
say  they  will  give  us  one  more  fight,  and  drive  us  from  the  country. 
We  expect  they  will  number  1,200.  The  Cayuses,  ISTez  Perces,  Walla- 
wallas,  Spokans,  and  Paluces  will  all  join  and  fight  us,  and  you  may 
expect  a  call  for  more  men  in  a  short  time ;  we  are  preparing  for  an 
attack.  We  are  killing  beef  and  drying  it  to-day.  I  think  we  can 
defend  this  post ;  we  shall  do  so  or  die  in  the  attempt.  *  *  * 

"  We  can  not  complain  of  our  living,  so  far ;  we  have  a  plenty  of 
beef  and  bread,  nearly  all  the  time.  We  have  found  several  caches  of 
wheat,  peas,  and  potatoes.  We  have  about  thirty  bushels  of  wheat  on 
hand,  and  the  mill  fitted  up  for  grinding. 

"  I  wish  you  would  see  to  my  claim  on  Clear  Creek,  for  I  expect  to 
return  when  this  war  is  over,  and  occupy  it,  with  some  man's  girl  as  a 
companion." 

The  following  proceedings  of  the  ladies  of  Oregon  City  and  vicinity, 
which  was  responded  to  all  over  the  country,  showing  how  the  ladies 


THE  LADIES  OF  OREGON.  571 

of  Oregon  and  this  Pacific  coast  can  respond  to  the  call  of  their 
country,  found  a  welcome  place  in  the  columns  of  the  Spectator.  We 
understand  that  considerable  clothing  has  been  contributed  by  the 
ladies  for  the  volunteers  in  the  field.  Such  acts  by  ladies  are  highly 
commendable  to  them,  and  can  not  fail  to  have  a  favorable  influence  in 
the  army: — 

"  At  a  meeting  convened  at  the  Methodist  church,  according  to  pre 
vious  notice,  on  the  12th  instant,  to  consult  upon  the  best  means  to 
aid  in  relieving  the  necessities  of  the  soldiers,  the  meeting  was  called 
to  order  by  Mrs.  Hood,  when  Mrs.  Thornton  was  called  to  the  chair, 
and  Mrs.  Thurston  (the  wife  of  our  first  delegate  to  Congress),  was 
appointed  secretary.  Mrs.  Thornton  (whose  husband  was  then  in 
Washington,  doing  all  he  could  for  the  country  as  a  volunteer  repre 
sentative  of  its  interests,  while  his  noble  wife  was  teaching  school  and 
ready  to  aid  in  sustaining  our  almost  naked  army)  briefly  stated  the 
object  of  the  meeting,  when,  on  motion,  it  was  resolved  to  form  a  soci 
ety,  the  object  of  which  should  be  to  aid  and  assist  in  supporting  the 
war  (Sanitary  Society).  On  motion,  the  meeting  proceeded  to  choose 
officers,  which  resulted  in  the  election  of  Mrs.  Thornton,  President ; 
Mrs.  Robb,  Vice-President ;  Mrs.  Leslie  (second  wife  of  Rev.  D.  Leslie), 
Treasurer ;  and  Mrs.  Thurston,  Secretary. 

"  On  motion,  it  was  voted  to  appoint  a  committee  of  three,  whose  duty 
it  should  be  to  assist  the  society  in  raising  funds,  etc.  The  president 
appointed  Mrs.  Hood  (an  active,  energetic  old  lady),  Mrs.  Crawford 
(the  wife  of  our  first  internal  revenue  collector),  and  Mrs.  Herford,  said 
committee. 

"Mrs.  Robb  then  introduced  the  following  address  as  expressive  of 
the  sense  of  the  meeting,  to  be  forwarded  to  the  army  with  the  clothing 
raised  by  the  ladies,  which,  on  being  read,  was  unanimously  adopted : — 

"'OREGON  CITY,  April  12,  1848. 

"  '  The  volunteers  of  the  first  regiment  of  Oregon  riflemen  will  please 
accept  from  the  ladies  of  Oregon  City  and  vicinity  the  articles  herewith 
forwarded  to  them.  The  intelligence  which  convinces  us  of  your  many 
hardships,  excessive  fatigues,  and  your  chivalrous  bearing  also  satisfies 
us  of  your  urgent  wants. 

"  'These  articles  are  not  tendered  for  acceptance  as  a  compensation 
for  your  services  rendered  ;  we  know  that  a  soldier's  heart  would  spurn 
with  contempt  any  boon  tendered  by  us  with  such  an  object;  accept 
them  as  a  brother  does,  and  may,  accept  a  sister's  tribute  of  remem 
brance — as  a  token,  an  evidence,  that  our  best  wishes  have  gone  to,  and 


572  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

will  remain  with  you  in  your  privations,  your  marches,  your  battles, 
and  your  victories. 

"  '  Your  fathers  and  ours,  as  soldiers,  have  endured  privations  and 
sufferings,  and  poured  out  their  blood  as  water,  to  establish  undisturbed 
freedom  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  your  and  our  mothers  evinced  the 
purity  of  their  love  of  country,  upon  those  occasions,  by  efforts  to 
mitigate  the  horrors  of  war,  in  making  and  providing  clothing  for  the 
soldiers.  Accept  this  trifling  present  as  an  indorsement  of  an  approval 
of  the  justice  of  the  cause  in  which  you  have  volunteered,  and  of  your 
bearing  in  the  service  of  our  common  country  as  manly,  brave,  and 
patriotic. 

"  '  The  war  which  you  have  generously  volunteered  to  wage  was  chal 
lenged  by  acts  the  most  ungrateful,  bloody,  barbarous,  and  brutal. 

"  '  Perhaps  the  kindness  which  the  natives  have  received  at  the  hands 
of  American  citizens  on  their  way  hither,  has,  to  some  extent,  induced 
a  belief  on  the  part  of  the  natives,  that  all  the  Americans  are  "  women" 
and  dare  not  resent  an  outrage,  however  shameful,  bloody,  or  wicked. 
Your  unflinching  bravery  has  struck  this  foolish  error  from  the  mind  of 
your  enemies,  and  impressed  them  Avith  terror,  and  it  is  for  you  and  a 
brotherhood  who  will  join  you,  to  follow  up  the  victories  so  gloriously 
commenced,  until  a  succession  of  victories  shall  compel  an  honorable 
peace,  and  insure  respect  for  the  American  arms  and  name. 

" '  We  have  not  forgotten  that  the  soul-sickening  massacre  and  enor 
mities  at  Wailatpu  were  committed  in  part  upon  our  sex.  We  know 
that  your  hardships  and  privations  are  great ;  but  may  we  not  hope, 
that  through  you  these  wrongs  shall  not  only  be  amply  avenged,  but 
also  that  you  inscribe,  upon  the  heart  of  our  savage  enemies,  a  convic 
tion  never  to  be  erased,  that  the  virtue  and  lives  of  American  women 
will  be  protected,  defended,  and  avenged  by  American  men. 

"  *  The  cause  which  you  have  espoused  is  a  holy  cause.  We  believe 
that  the  God  of  battle  will  so  direct  the  destinies  of  this  infant  settle 
ment,  that  she  will  come  out  of  this  contest  clothed  in  honor,  and  her 
brave  volunteers  covered  with  glory. 

" '  The  widows  and  orphans,  made  so  by  the  massacre  which  called  you 
to  the  field,  unite  with  us  in  the  bestowment  of  praise  for  the  valuable 
service  already  rendered  by  you ;  and  he  who  has  already  proclaimed 
himself  the  widow's  God,  Judge,  and  Husband,  and  a  Father  to  the 
fatherless,  will  smile  upon  and  aid  your  exertions.  Fight  on,  then  ! — 
Fight  as  you  have  fought,  and  a  glorious  victory  awaits  you.' 

"  On  motion,  a  vote  of  thanks  was  tendered  to  Mrs.  Hood  for  her  un 
wearied  exertions  in  behalf  of  the  suffering  soldiers. 


THE  MOTHEES  AND   DAUGHTERS   OF  OREGON".  573 

"Mrs.  Robb  moved,  That  when  this  society  adjourn,  it  do  so  to  meet 
at  this  place  again  on  the  26th  instant. 

"  On  motion,  it  was  then  voted  that  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting, 
with  the  address  adopted,  be  published  in  the  Oregon  Spectator. 
"  On  motion,  the  meeting  then  adjourned. 

"  Mrs.  N.  M.  THORNTON,  President. 
"  Mrs.  E.  F.  TIIURSTON,  Secretary." 

The  thought  and  sentiment  manifested  in  the  above  proceedings  and 
address  allow  the  reader  to  look  right  at  the  heart  and  soul  of  our 
people.  No  one  who  reads  our  history  will  have  occasion  to  blush  or 
be  ashamed  to  know  that  his  father  or  mother  crossed  the  vast  moun 
tains  and  plains  of  North  America,  found  a  home  in  Oregon,  and  fought 
back  the  savages,  and  their  more  savage  foreign  leaders.  Oregonians, 
the  fact  that  your  father  or  mother  was  a  pioneer  on  this  coast  will 
redound  to  your  honor, — as  a  reference  to  the  deeds  of  our  fathers  and 
mothers,  on  the  eastern  part  of  our  continent,  strengthened  and  nerved 
our  hearts,  when  the  whole  host  of  savage  instruments  of  cruelty  and 
barbarism  were  let  loose  upon  us,  and  many  of  our  dearest  friends  fell 
by  their  ruthless  hordes !  We  know  not  who  the  author  of  that 
address  is,  but  the  sentiment — the  soul — belongs  alone  to  Oregon. 

In  the  same  paper  we  find  the  sentiment  still  further  illustrated  in  a 
declaration  of  a  number  of  young  ladies.  We  only  regret  that  we  have 
not  their  names  ;  the  sentiment  is  too  good  to  be  lost,  as  it  shows  the 
finer  and  nobler  sentiments  of  virtue  and  religion  among  the  mothers 
and  daughters  of  Oregon,  in  those  trying  times.  The  communication 
is  as  follows : — 

"WALLAMET  VALLEY,  OREGON". 

"Response  by  young  ladies  to  the  call  of  Captain  Moxon  for  young 
men  in  the  army. 

"  We  have  read  with  much  interest  the  late  report  from  the  army, 
and  feel  ourselves  under  obligations  to  reply  to  the  appeal  made  to  us 
in  that  report.  We  are  asked  to  evince  our  influence  for  our  country's 
good,  by  withholding  our  hand  from  any  young  man  who  refuses  to 
turn  out  in  defense  of  our  honor  and  our  country's  right. 

"  In  reply,  we  hereby,  one  and  all,  of  our  own  free  good  will, 
solemnly  pledge  ourselves  to  comply  with  that  request,  and  to  evince,  on 
all  suitable  occasions,  our  detestation  and  contempt  for  any  and  all 
young  men,  who  can,  but  will  not,  take  up  arms  and  march  at  once  to 
the  seat  of  war,  to  punish  the  Indians,  who  have  not  only  murdered 
our  friends,  but  have  grossly  insulted  our  sex.  We  never  can,  and 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

never  will,  bestow  our  confidence  upon  a  man  who  has  neither  patriot 
ism  nor  courage  enough  to  defend  his  country  and  the  girls ; — such  a 
one  would  never  have  sufficient  sense  of  obligations  to  defend  and 
protect  a  wife. 

"  Do  not  be  uneasy  about  your  claims  and  your  rights  in  the  valley ; 
while  you  are  defending  the  rights  of  your  country,  she  is  watching 
yours.  You  must  not  be  discouraged.  Fight  on,  be  brave,  obey  your 
officers,  and  never  quit  your  posts  till  the  enemy  is  conquered ;  and 
when  you  return  in  triumph  to  the  valley,  you  shall  find  us  as  ready  to 
rejoice  with  you  as  we  now  are  to  sympathize  with  you  in  your  suffer 
ings  and  dangers." 

(Signed  by  fifteen  young  ladies). 

Soon  after  the  peace  arrangements,  as  related  in  the  previous  chapter, 
the  colonel  and  major  left  for  the  lower  country.  They  arrived  at  the 
Dalles,  where  the  colonel  was  accidentally  shot  by  attempting  to  re 
move  a  rifle  from  the  hind  end  of  one  of  his  wagons  ;  the  cap  was  burst, 
and  he  received  the  contents  of  the  gun,  which  proved  fatal  in  a  few 
hours.  In  his  death  the  country  lost  a  valuable  citizen,  the  army  a  good 
soldier,  and  his  family  a  kind  husband  and  affectionate  father.  As  a 
commander  of  the  provisional  troops,  he  succeeded  probably  as  well  as 
any  man  could  under  the  circumstances. 

The  deep  schemes  of  the  British  fur  monopoly,  the  baser  schemes  of 
the  Jesuits,  both  working  together,  and  in  connection  with  the  Indians 
and  all  the  American  dupes  that  they  with  their  influence  and  capital 
could  command,  it  is  not  surprising  that,  as  a  military  man,  he  should 
fail  to  bring  to  justice  the  immediate  or  remote  perpetrators  of  the  crime 
he  was  expected  to  punish.  In  fact,  but  few  at  the  present  day  are  able 
to  comprehend  the  extent  and  power  of  opposing  influences.  One  of 
the  commissioners  informed  us  that  from  the  time  the  colonel  opened 
a  correspondence  with  the  priests,  he  appeared  to  lose  his  influence 
and  power  and  control  of  the  troops.  He  lacked  an  essential  qual 
ity  as  a  commander — promptness  in  action  and  decision  to  strike 
at  the  proper  time,  as  was  manifest  in  his  whole  campaign.  Yet, 
for  this  he  is  to  a  certain  extent  excusable,  as  he  had  with  his  army 
the  Indian  peace  commissioners,  and  was  acting  under  the  orders 
of  a  governor  who  was  greatly  deceived  as  to  the  prime  movers  in  the 
war. 

One  of  the  commissioners  was  notoriously  the  dupe  and  tool  of  the 
foreign  monopoly  in  our  midst,  as  his  own  history  before  and  since  has 
proved.  He  claimed  to  know  exactly  how  to  deal  with  the  difficulty. 
This  influence  was  felt  by  the  troops,  and  generally  acknowledged,  and, 


A  RUNNING  FIGHT.  575 

as  we  know  from  the  best  of  authority,  was  the  cause  of  the  colonel's 
being  ordered  to  report  at  head-quarters. 

After  lying  at  Fort  Waters  for  a  considerable  time,  his  men  becoming 
dissatisfied  (as  intimated  in  letters),  he  mounted  his  horse,  and  most  of 
his  men  volunteered  to  follow  him  for  a  fight.  He  pursued  what  he 
supposed  to  be  the  correct  trail  of  the  murderers  to  a  point  on  the 
Tukanon,  and  there  fought  a  small  party,  and  learned  that  the  mur 
derers  were  at  the  crossing  of  Snake  River,  some  thirty  miles  distant. 
He  continued  his  march  all  night.  The  next  morning,  the  murderers 
having  learned  of  his  expedition  in  another  direction,  he  came  upon 
them  and  surprised  their  whole  camp.  An  old  man  came  out  of  the 
lodge  and  made  signs  of  submission,  and  pretended  that  the  murderers 
were  hot  in  his  camp,  but  that  their  cattle  were  upon  the  hills.  This 
induced  the  colonel  to  order  his  men  to  gather  the  cattle  and  re 
turn  to  Fort  Waters  (while  Tilokaikt  was  then  crossing  the  river), 
instead  of  attacking  them,  as  he  should  have  done.  The  Indians 
soon  gathered  their  best  horses,  which  were  kept  separate  from 
the  common  band,  and  commenced  an  attack  upon  his  cumbered, 
retreating  column,  till  they  came  near  the  ford  on  the  Tucliet, 
when  a  running  fight  was  kept  up,  and  an  effort  made  to  get  pos 
session  of  the  ford  by  the  Indians,  which  it  required  all  the  colonel's 
force  to  defeat ;  and  like  the  crow  and  the  fox  in  the  fable,  while  the 
colonel  was  giving  the  Indians  a  specimen  of  American  fighting,  he 
neglected  his  cattle,  and  the  Indians  drove  them  off.  But  few  were 
wounded  on  either  side,  though,  in  the  struggle  to  gain  the  ford  and 
bushes  contiguous,  there  was  swift  running  and  close  shooting,  which 
continued  till  dark.  The  Indians  retired  with  their  cattle,  and  next  day 
the  colonel  and  his  party,  with  the  wounded,  reached  Fort  Waters, 
and  thence  he  obeyed  the  summons  of  the  governor  to  return  and 
report  at  head-quarters.  While  Major  Lee  is  on  his  way  with  the  body 
of  Colonel  Gilliam  to  the  Wallamet,  and  to  obtain  recruits  and  supplies 
of  arms  and  ammunition,  we  will  see  what  Colonel  Waters  is  about  at 
Wailatpu,  April  4,  1848. 

In  his  letter  of  the  above  date,  he  says : — 

"  Since  Colonel  Gilliam's  departure  from  this  place,  our  relations  with 
the  supposed  friendly  Indians  have  undergone  a  material  change ;  not 
seeing  any,  either  friendly  or  hostile,  for  several  days,  I  concluded  to 
send  an  express  to  Fort  Wallawalla,  and  if  possible  to  gain  some  informa 
tion  concerning  their  movements,  as  I  had  reason  to  believe  from  their 
long  silence  that  there  was  something  wrong ;  I  accordingly  addressed 
a  short  note  to  Mr.  McBean  on  the  evening  of  the  1st  of  April,  and  dis- 


576  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

patched  two  of  my  men  with  the  same,  charging  them  strictly  to  remain 
there  during  the  day,  and  return,  as  they  went,  in  the  night.  They  re 
turned  yesterday  in  safety,  and  their  narrative,  together  with  Mr. 
McBean's  written  statements,  fully  confirms  me  in  my  previous  views. 

"The  Wallawalla  chief,  notwithstanding  his  professions  of  friend 
ship  to  Colonel  Gilliam  and  the  Bostons,  now  looks  upon  us  as  enemies. 
The  law  prohibiting  the  sale  of  ammunition  appears  to  be  his  principal 
hobby.  By  refusing  it  to  him  and  his  people  he  says  w^e  place  them  on 
an  equal  footing  with  the  guilty,  and  if  this  law  is  not  abrogated,  they 
will  become  murderers.  This  sentiment  he  expressed  in  the  presence 
of  our  express  bearers.  [The  sentiment  of  Sir  James  Douglas,  as  ex 
pressed  in  his  letter  to  Governor  Abernethy.] 

"  There  were  then  at  the  fort  some  sixty  lodges,  and  between  two  and 
three  hundred  warriors.  Mr.  McBean  gave  what  purported  to  be  in 
formation  Avhere  the  murderers  had  gone,  stating  that  Ellis  and  sixty 
of  his  men  had  died  in  the  mountains  with  the  measles,  and  this  had 
produced  its  effect  upon  our  superstitious  friends. 

"  The  Cayuses  arid  Nez  Perces  have  had  a  big  feast,  which  to  my 
mind  speaks  in  language  not  to  be  misunderstood.  Mr.  McBean  further 
states,  that  the  Paluce  Indians,  Cayuses,  and  part  of  the  Nez  Perces, 
are  awaiting  the  American  forces,  to  fight  them  on  the  Nez  Perces,  or 
Snake  River;  but  the  signs  of  the  times  justify  the  conclusion  that  we 
will  be  attacked  nearer  home,  and  much  to  our  disadvantage,  unless 
soon  supplied  with  ammunition.  They  know  our  circumstances  about 
as  well  as  we  do  ourselves,  both  as  regards  ammunition  and  provisions, 
and  it  need  not  be  thought  strange  if  they  act  accordingly. 

"  Welaptulekt  (an  Indian  chief)  is  at  the  fort,  and  has  brought  quite 
an  amount  of  immigrant  property  with  him,  which  he  delivered  to  Mr. 
McBean  ;  says  he  was  afraid  Colonel  Gilliam  would  kill  him,  which  was 
the  reason  of  his  not  meeting  him.  This  is  the  report  of  the  men;  Mr. 
McBean  did  not  mention  his  name.  My  opinion  is  that  we  have  nothing 
to  hope  from  his  friendship. 

"I  sec  by  General  Palmer's  letter  to  Colonel  Gilliam,  that  he  (Mc 
Bean)  refused  to  accept  the  American  flay,  which  was  presented  by 
his  own  Indians ;  he,  of  course,  had  nothing  to  fear  from  them. 

"  I  have  now  given  you  the  outlines  of  our  unpleasant  situation,  and 
doubt  not  that  you  will  make  every  exertion  to  forward  us  ammunition, 
and  men  too  of  the  right  stripe.  I  have  exaggerated  nothing,  nor  has 
any  active  cautiousness  prompted  me  to  address  you  upon  this  subject. 
If  they  do  come  upon  us,  be  their  numbers  what  they  may,  rest  assured, 
while  there  is  one  bullet  left,  they  will  be  taught  to  believe  that  the 
Bostons  are  not  all  clocliemen  (women). 


INFLUENCE   OF   THE   WAR.  577 

"  I  have  succeeded  in  getting  the  mill  to  work,  and  we  are  grinding . 
up  the  little  grain  we  found.     Mr.  Taylor  died  on  the  24th  of  March. 
The  wounded  are  doing  well.     I  regret  to  say  our  surgeon  talks  strongly 
of  leaving  us  the  first  opportunity.     My  impression  is  that  a  more  suit 
able  person  could  not  be  obtained  in  that  capacity.  His  commission  has 
not  been  sent  on,  which  no  doubt  has  its  weight  with  him. 
"  I  have  the  honor  to  remain, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  JAMES  WATERS,  Lieutenant-Colonel." 

%As  to  the  propriety  of  Governor  Abernethy's  publishing  this  entire 
letter,  there  was  at  the  time  a  question.  With  the  facts  since  developed, 
it  is  plain  that  it  should  not  have  been  given  to  the  public ;  but,  as  we 
have  before  stated,  the  governor  was  one  of  those  easy,  confiding, 
unsuspecting  men,  that  gave  a  wily  and  unprincipled  enemy  all  the 
advantage  he  could  ask.  It  was  only  the  determined  energy  and 
courage  of  the  settlers  that  enabled  them  to  overcome  their  secret  and 
open  foes. 

The  evidence  is  conclusive,  that  Colonel  Gilliam,  through  the  influ 
ence  and  duplicity  of  Newell,  McBean,  and  the  Jesuits,  was  induced  to 
withhold  his  men  from  punishing  the  Indians,  and  received  and  treated 
with  bands  as  guilty  as  the  murderers  themselves,  thus  giving  an 
impression  to  the  Indians  of  weakness  and  cowardice  on  the  part  of  the 
troops,  as  well  as  a  want  of  the  requisite  qualities  for  a  successful  com 
mander. 

Major  Lee  returned  to  the  settlement,  obtained  more  troops  and 
ammunition,  and  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  regiment  in  place  of 
Colonel  Gilliam,  deceased.  This  place  he  was  justly  entitled  to  fill  by 
seniority  in  the  service.  He  then  returned  tt>  Fort  Waters,  and,  finding 
the  troops  in  the  field  satisfied  with  Colonel  Waters,  resigned  at  once, 
and  filled  a  subordinate  place  in  the  army.  The  troops  were  soon  put 
in  motion.  Captain  McKay  and  his  company  ofj&ritish  subjects  were 
disbanded,  after  being  stationed  a  short  time  at  Wascopum. 

The  troops  soon  drove  the  murderers  off  to  buffalo,  "  icith  the  pro 
priety,  decorum,  and  energy  which  the  case  required,'1''  as  per  "  Veritas." 
They  gathered  up  such  of  the^  murderers'  cattle  and  horses  as  were 
not  claimed  by  professed  friendly  Indians,  and  retired  to  the  Wallamet, 
leaving  a  small  garrison  at  Fort  Waters  and  at  Wascopum. 

The  war,  though  attended  with  little  or  no  loss  of  life  to  the  settle 
ment  or  the  Indians,  was  of  incalculable  value  to  the  American  cause. 
It  taught  the  Indians,  the  British  monopoly,  and  their  allies,  the  Jesuits, 
that,  notwithstanding  they  could  drive  from  the  upper  country,  or  middle 
37 


578  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Oregon,  the  missionaries  of  the  American  Board,  they  could  not  con 
quer  and  drive  the  settlements  from  the  country. 

While  the  main  effort  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  to  rid  the 
country  of  American  settlements,  the  Jesuits  were  working  against 
American  Protestantism,  and  endeavoring  to  secure  the  whole  country? 
middle  Oregon  in  particular,  for  their  exclusive  Indian  mission.  One 
of  them,  A.  Iloikin,  S.  J.,  in  a  letter  to  the  editor  of  the  Precis  His- 
toj'iques,  Brussels,  dated  "Mission  of  Flatheads,  April  15,  1857"  (this 
mission  was  established  by  Father  De  Smet  as  early  as  1841  in  opposi 
tion  to  that  of  the  American  Board  at  Spokan),  says  : — 

"  If  the  less  well-intentioned  Indians  from  the  lower  lands  would  keep 
within  their  own  territory,  and  if  the  whites,  the  number  of  whom  is 
daily  augmenting  in  St.  Mary's  Valley,  could  act  with  moderation  and 
conduct  themselves  prudently,  I  am  convinced  that  soon  the  whole 
country  would  be  at  peace,  and  that  not  a  single  Indian  would  hence 
forward  imbrue  his  hands  in  the  blood  of  a  white  stranger. 

"  Were  I  authorized  to  suggest  a  plan,  I  would  have  all  the  upper 
lands  evacuated  by  the  whites,  and  form  of  it  a  territory  exclusively  of 
Indians  •  afterward,  I  would  lead  there  all  the  Indians  of  the  inferior 
portion,  such  as  the  Xez  Perces,  the  Cayuses,  the  Yankamas,  the  Coeur 
d'AlCknes,  and  the  Spokans.  Well-known  facts  lead  me  to  believe  that 
this  plan,  with  such  superior  advantages,  might  be  effected  by  means  of 
a  mission  in  the  space  of  two  or  three  years. 

"For  the  love  of  God  and  of  souls,  I  conjure  you,  reverend  fathers, 
not  to  defer  any  longer.  All  the  good  that  Father  De  Smet  and  others 
have  produced  by  their  labors  and  visits  will  be  lost  and  forgotten 
if  these  Indians  are  disappointed  in  their  expectation.  They  Aveigh 
men's  characters  in  the  balance  of  honesty;  in  their  eyes,  whoso 
ever  does  not  fulfill  his  promises  is  culpable ;  they  do  not  regard  or 
consider  whether  it  be  done  for  good  reason,  or  that  there  is  an  impos 
sibility  in  the  execution. 

"  Some  of  them  have  sent  their  children  to  Protestant  schools,  and 
they  will  continue  to  do  so  as  long  as  we  form  no  establishments  among 
them.  From  all  this  you  may  easily  conclude  that  there  is  apostasy 
and  all  its  attendant  evils" 

In  connection  with  the  above,  Father  De  Smet  says : — 

"  These  four  letters  of  Rev.  Father  Hoikin  show  sufficiently,  my 
dear  and  reverend  father,  the  spiritual  wants  of  these  nations  and  their 
desire  of  being  assisted.  Apostasy  is  more  frequent  than  is  generally 
believed  in  Europe.  Oh,  if  the  zealous  priests  of  the  continent  know 
what  we  know, — had  they  seen  what  we  have  witnessed,  their  generous 


FATHERS   DE   SMET   AND   HOIKIN.  579 

hearts  would  transport  them  beyond  the  seas,  and  they  would  hasten 
to  consecrate  their  lives  to  a  ministry  fruitful  in  salutary  results. 

"  Time  passes ;  already  the  sectaries  of  various  shades  are  prepar 
ing  to  penetrate  more  deeply  into  the  desert,  and  will  wrest  from  those 
degraded  and  unhappy  tribes  their  last  hope, — that  of  knowing  and 
practising  the  sole  and  true  faith.  Shall  they,  in  line,  obtain  the  black- 
gowns^  whom  they  have  expected  and  called  for  during  so  many  years. 

"  Accept,  reverend  father,  the  assurance  of  my  sincere  friendship. 

"  P.  J.  DE  SMET." 

Would  men  entertaining  the  sentiments  above  expressed — sent  among 
our  American  Indians,  carried  about,  supplied  and  fed,  by  a  foreign 
fur  monopoly,  who  were  seeking  in  every  way  possible,  to  hold  the 
country  themselves — be  likely  to  teach  the  Indians  to  respect  American 
institutions,  American  missionaries,  or  American  citizens  ? 

Let  us  look  at  another  sentiment  of  this  Father  Iloikin ;  lie  says  : 
"When,  oh,  when!  shall  the  oppressed  Indian  find  a  poor  corner  of  the 
earth  on  which  he  may  lead  a  peaceful  life,  serving  and  loving  his  God 
in  tranquillity,  and  preserving  the  ashes  of  his  ancestors,  without  fear  of 
beholding  them  profaned  and  trampled  beneath  the  feet  of  an  unjust 
iisurper."  We  can  not  discover  in  this  sentiment  any  respect  or  love 
for  the  American  people,  or  for  their  government,  which  is  looked  upon 
by  this  reverend  priest,  as  an  "  unjust  usurper  "  of  Indian  privileges  ; — 
something  their  own  church  and  people  have  done  the  world  over;  but 
being  done  by  a  free  American  people,  it  becomes  " unjust"  profane, 
and  horrible.  We  will  make  a  few  other  quotations,  which  we  find 
in  the  very  extensive  correspondence  of  these  Jesuitical  fathers,  with 
their  society  in  Brussels.  The  writer,  Father  P.  J.  De  Smet,  after 
enumerating  the  usual  complaints  against  our  government  and  its  agents, 
makes  his  Indian  complainingly  to  say,  "  The  very  contact  of  the  whites 
has  poisoned  us."  He  then  puts  into  the  mouth  of* a  Choctaw  chief,  a 
proposition  from  a  Senator  Johnson  to  establish  three  Indian  territo 
rial  governments,  "  with  the  provision  of  being  admitted  later  as  distinct 
members  of  the  Confederate  United  States" 

"On  the  25th  of  last  November,  1862,"  he  says,  "  Harkins,  chief 
among  the  Choctaws,  addressed  a  speech  on  this  subject  to  his  nation 
assembled  in  council.  Among  other  things  he  said :  c  I  appeal  to 
you,  what  will  become  us,  if  we  reject  the  proposition  of  Senator  John 
son  ?  Can  we  hope  to  remain  a  people,  always  separate  and  distinct  ? 
This  is  not  possible.  The  time  must  come  ;  yes  the  time  is  approaching 
in  which  we  shall  be  swallowed  up ;  and  that,  notwithstanding  our  just 
claims  !  I  speak  boldly.  It  is  a  fact;  our  days  of  peace  and  happiness 


580  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

are  gone,  and  forever.  *  *  *  If  we  will  preserve  among  us  the  rights 
of  a  people,  one  sole  measure  remains  to  us ;  it  is  to  instruct  and  civilize 
the  youth  promptly  and  efficiently.  The  day  of  fraternity  has  arrived. 
We  must  act  together,  and,  by  common  consent,  let  us  attentively  con 
sider  our  critical  situation,  and  the  course  now  left  us.  One  false  step 
may  prove  fatal  to  our  existence  as  a  nation.  I  therefore  propose  that 
the  council  take  this  subject  into  consideration,  and  that  a  committee 
,be  named  by  it,  to  discuss  and  deliberate  on  the  advantages  and  disad 
vantages  of  the  proposition  made  to  the'Choctaws.  Is  it  just  arid  sage 
for  the  Choctaws  to  refuse  a  liberal  and  favorable  offer,  and  expose 
themselves  to  the  destiny  of  the  Indians  of  Nebraska  ?' 

"According  to  news  received  recently,  through  a  journal  published 
in  the  Indian  country,  the  speech  of  the  chief  has  produced  a  profound 
impression,  and  was  loudly  applauded  by  all  the  counselors.  All  the 
intelligent  Choctaws  approve  the  measure. 

"  Tiie  Protestant  missionaries  oppose  the  bill,  and  employ  all  their 
artifices  and  influence  to  prevent  its  success.  If  ark  ins  proposes  their 
expulsion.  'It  is  our  money'  said  he,  'that  these  missionaries  come 
here  to  get.  Surely,  our  money  can  get  us  better  teachers.  Let  us 
therefore  try  to  procure  good  missionaries,  with  whom  we  can  live  in 
harmony  and  good  understanding  ;  who  will  give  us  the  assurance  that 
their  doctrine  is  based  on  that  of  the  apostles  and  of  Jesus  Christ.' 

"  The  Chickasaws  are  represented  as  opposed  to  Senator  Johnson's 
measure.  We  trust,  however,  that  the  vote  of  the  majority  will  prove 
favorable,  and  that  the  three  territorial  States  will  be  established. 

"  It  is,  in  my  opinion,  a  last  attempt,  and  a  last  chance  of  existence 
for  the  sad  remnants  of  the  poor  Indians  of  America.  It  is,  I  will  say,  if 
I  may  here  repeat  what  I  wrote  in  my  second  letter  in  1853,  their  only 
remaining  source  of  happiness;  humanity  and  justice  seem  to  demand 
it.  If  they  are  again  repulsed,  and  driven  inland,  they  will  infallibly 
perish.  Such  as  refuse  to  submit,  and  accept  the  definite  arrange 
ment, — the  only  favorable  one  left, — must  resume  the  nomad  life  of  the 
prairies,  and  close  their  career  with  the  vanishing  buffaloes  and  other 
animals." 

We  have  known  this  Father  De  Smet  for  many  years,  and  have 
known  of  his  connection  as  chaplain  in  the  United  States  army,  and  of 
his  extensive  travels  among  the  various  Indian  tribes  of  our  country. 
We  were  well  aware  of  his  zeal  and  bigotry  as  a  Jesuit ;  but  we  did 
'  not  suppose  he  would  take  the  first  opportunity  to  combine  all  his  asso 
ciates,  and  the  Indians  under  his  influence,  against  the  government  that 
had  favored  him  and  his  Indian  missionary  operations  so  readily.  Yet 
perhaps  we  ought  not  to  be  surprised  at  this  even,  as  the  Roman  hier- 


THE    "RULE   OB   RUIN"   POLICY.  581 

archf  expressed  more  open  sympathy  and  favor  to  the  Southern  rebel 
lion  than  any  other  European  power,  by  acknowledging  the  Southern 
Confederacy,  and  furnishing  a  man  to  assassinate  President  Lincoln. 
We  have  introduced  these  quotations  in  our  sketches  of  early  history, 
in  order  to  show  to  the  reader  the  far-reaching  policy,  as  also  the  de 
termination  of  foreign  powers,  through  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  to 
accomplish  the  overthrow  of  our  American  institutions,  and  prevent  the 
spread  of  them  upon  this  -coast.  The  following  is  copied  from  the 
Christian  Intelligencer : — 

"Rome  in  the  Field. 

"  There  are  those  who  believe  that  Rome  has  an  evil  eye  on  this 
country,  and  that  our  next  great  battle  will  be  with  her  hosts,  rapidly 
mustering  on  these  shores.  We  would  not  be  alarmists,  but  we  would 
not  have  our  countrymen  ignorant  of  matters  which  most  nearly  and 
vitally  concern  our  country's  welfare.  If  the  policy  of  Rome  is  to  rule 
or  ruin,  let  us  know  it.  If  it  be  first  to  ruin,  and  then  to' rule,  let  us 
know  that. 

"  We  purpose  to  go  no  further  back  than  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
and  to  let  the  facts  which  we  shall  name  speak  for  themselves.  If 
they  have  no  other  lesson,  they  will,  at  least,  show  that  Rome,  during 
our  terrible  struggle  for  national  existence,  was  true  to  her  ancient  his- 
tory^and  traditions,  as  the  enemy  of  civil  liberty  and  the  friend  of  the 
oppressor  the  world  over. 

"  It  will  not  be  forgotten  how  generally  and  enthusiastically  our 
adopted  citizens,  the  Irish,  enlisted  in  the  army  when  the  call  first  came 
for  men  to  put  down  rebellion.  In  the  early  part  of  the  war,  there  were 
Irish  battalions,  and  regiments,  and  brigades,  but  there  were  few,  if 
any,  at  its  close.  The  truth  is,  after  the  second  year  of  the  war,  the 
Irish  changed  front,  and  suddenly  became  sympathizers  with  treason 
and  rebellion.  It  was  noticed  that  the  girls  in  the  kitchen  began  to  roll 
their  fierce  gutturals  against  Mr.  Lincoln ;  their  brothers  in  the  army 
began  to  curse  the  cause  for  which  they  fought ;  desertions  were  fre 
quent  ;  enlistments  stopped ;  and  the  attitude  of  the  Irish  mind  before 
Mr.  Lincoln's  second  election  was  one  of  disloyalty  and  hostility  to  the 
government  of  the  United  States. 

"  And  these  facts  c;m  not  be  changed  by  the  habit  which  these 
people  have  of  boasting  about  fighting  our  battles,  and  saving  our 
country.  By  actual  examination  of  our  muster-rolls,  the  simple  truth 
appears  to  be,  that  only  eight  per  cent,  of  our  grand  army  were  of  foreign 
birth  ;  the  balance — ninety-two  per  cent. — were  native  Americans,  who 
returned  at  length,  worn  and  battle-scarred,  to  find  their  places  on  the 


'582  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

farms,  in  the  factories,  and  elsewhere,  filled  by  Irish  who  had  sought 
safety  and  profit  at  home,  while  our  boys  were  courting  danger  and 
death  in  battle. 

"  It  may  be  interesting  to  know  when  this  change  came  over  the 
Irish  mind.  What  dampened  their  ardor,  what  quenched  the  glow  of 
their  patriotic  impulse  ?  The  coincidence  is  so  complete,  that  the  cause 
is  doubtless  the  same. 

"  It  will  be  remembered  that  Bishop  Hughes  went  abroad  during  the 
second  year  of  the  war,  as  was  supposed,  by  authority  of  our  govern 
ment  to  interest  the  Catholic  sovereigns  of  Europe  in  our  favor.  Instead 
of  this,  however,  the  archbishop  went  direct  to  Rome,  and  straightway 
the  pope  acknowledged  the  independence  of  the  Confederate  States. 
His  insignificance  gave  him  impunity,  nnd  purchased  our  silence.  But 
the  act  had  its  influence;  Biddy  in  the  kitchen,  Mike  in  the  army,  Pat 
rick  on  the  farm,  and  Mac  in  the  factory,  fell  to  cursing  Mr.  Lincoln  as 
a  tyrant  and  butcher.  Enlistments  among  the  Irish  stopped  from  that 
time,  unless  it  was  bounty-jumpers  and  deserters.  They  banded  to 
gether  to  resist  the  draft,  as  in  New  York,  where  they  rioted  in  blood 
for  three  long  days,  and  only  yielded  to  the  overwhelming  power  of 
United  States  troops.  The  spirit  that  actuated  these  human  fiends 
came  from  Rome,  and  to  Rome  must  be  awarded  the  sole  honor  of 
welcoming  to  the  family  of  nations  a  Confederacy  whose  first  act  wag 
treason,  and  whose  last  was  assassination.  Indeed,  it  was  Rome  that 
furnished  the  assassin  and  his  conspirators  against  the  greatest  life  of 
modern  times.  And  that  assassin  struck  not  againt  the  life  of  a  man, 
but  against  the  life  of  the  Republic ;  and  if  guilt  lies  in  the  intent,  then 
is  Rome  guilty  of  the  nation's  life. 

"With  such  a  record,  Rome  vainly  puts  herself  among  the  friends  of 
our  free  institutions.  She  misjudged,  we  think,  but  she  no  doubt 
thought  the  time  had  arrived  to  destroy  what  had  come  of  Puritanism. 
And  for  this,  she  was  willing  to  be  the  ally  of  a  government  whose 
corner-stone  was  negro  slavery.  Are  we  still  dreaming  that  Rome  is 
changed,  or  that  she  has  surrendered  the  hope  of  supplanting  Protest 
ant  freedom  on  these  shores  ?  Would  not  every  Fenian  lodge  in  the 
country  rally  to  the  help  of  the  South,  if  there  was  a  chance  to  restore 
the  old  negro-hating  oligarchy  to  power. 

"It  can  hardly  have  escaped  every  observing  man  that  the  Irish  mind 
is  expectant  and  exultant  in  regard  to  this  country.  They  do  not  con 
ceal  their  belief  that  the  Catholic  Church  is  to  rise  to  the  ascendant 
here,  and  that  Protestantism  is  to  do  it  reverence. 

"  But  a  few  weeks  since,  Father  Hecker,  one  of  the  lights  of  the 
Catholic  Church  in  this  country,  said  in  a  public  lecture,  in  New 


SHREWDNESS   OF   P.   J.   DE   SMET.  583 

York,  that  his  church  had  numbered  eleven  millions  of  our  people,  or 
one-third  of  our  population  ;  and  that  if  the  members  of  his  church 
increased  for  the  next  thirty  years  as  it  had  for  the  thirty  years  past,  in 
1900  Rome  would  have  the  majority,  and  would  be  bound  to  take  the 
country  and  rule  it  in  the  interest  of  the  church.  '  And,'  continued  the 
reverend  father,  'I  consider  it  my  highest  mission  to  educate  our  people 
up  to  this  idea,  that  America  is  ours,  and  belongs  to  the  church.' 

"  It  is  all  of  a  pattern.  Rome  during  the  war  sought  to  ruin  us  in 
order  to  rule  us.  She  failed  in  the  first,  but  is  no  less  tenaciously  striv 
ing  to  accomplish  the  last.  In  a  future  number  we  will  hope  to  show 
how  she  means  to  do  this  through  the  freedmen." 

It  appears  that,  when  our  government  became  apprised  of  the  value 
of  Oregon  as  a  part  of  its  domain,  and  was  informed  officially  by  the 
provisional  government  of  the  situation  of  affairs  generally  at  the 
time  of  the  Whitman  massacre,  at  the  same  time  the  information  was 
so  arranged,  and  the  circumstances  so  stated,  that  the  government  and 
people  were  generally  deceived  as  to  the  cause  and  ultimate  object  of 
that  transaction.  It  is  clear  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  designed 
to  hold  the  country.  It  is  also  evident  that  British  government  ex 
pected  that  the  arrangements  of  the  company  were  such  that  their  title 
to  the  Oregon  Territory  was  secured  beyond  a  question. 

The  far-seeing  shrewdness  of  P.  J.  De  Srnet,  S.  J.,  in  relation  to  his 
efforts  and  church  influence,  was  in  a  measure  superior  to  both ;  for  he 
made  use  of  both  to  secure  his  object  and  add  to  the  numerical  strength 
of  his  church,  and  by  that  means  gain  political  consideration  in  the 
United  States  and  in  other  countries.  For  instance,  all  the  Indian 
children  and  adults  they  have  ever  baptized  (as  may  be  seen  by  their 
letters  to  their  society  in  Brussels)  are  counted,  numbering  two  hun 
dred  and  ninety-four  thousand, — nearly  one-half  of  their  American 
converts.  This,  with  all  their  foreign  population,  as  claimed  by  them, 
and  improperly  allowed  in  the  United  States  census,  gives  to  that 
sect  a  political  influence  they  are  not  entitled  to  ;  and  were  the  question 
agitated  openly,  as  it  was  undertaken  once  secretly,  the  result  would 
show  their  weakness.  While  that  church  professes  the  open  Catholic 
faith,  it  still  holds  to  its  secret  Society  of  Jesus,  and  through  it  has 
carried  its  missions  and  influence  into  every  department  of  our 
American  government,  more  especially  into  that  of  the  Indians. 
General  Grant  seems  to  understand  our  Indian  relations,  and  has 
advised  the  best  plan  for  disposing  of  the  Indian  question,  i.  e.,  place 
it  under  the  exclusive  control  of  the  military  department ;  and  if  an 
Indian  becomes  a  settler,  let  him  be  protected  as  such. 


584  HISTORY  OF  OREGOX. 

After  the  greater  portion  of  our  provisional  troops  had  been  dis 
banded,  Revs.  Eells  and  Walker  and  their  families  were  ordered  out 
of  the  upper  country,  it  not  being  deemed  safe  for  them  to  remain,  on 
account  of  hostile  Indians  who  were  notoriously  friendly  with  every 
one  claiming  to  belong  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  or  to  the 
priests'  party;  as  asserted  by  Father  Hoilqn,  who  says  :  "  Tie  country 
i$  as  safe  for  us  as  ever  /  we  can  go  freely  wherever  we  desire.  No 
one  is  ignorant  that  the  black-gowns  are  not  enemies ;  those  at  least 
who  are  among  the  Indians." 

Notwithstanding  the  order  had  been  given,  by  Indian  Agent  Major 
Lee,  that  all  the  missionaries  among  those  Indians  should  leave  the 
country  till  troops  could  be  stationed  to  protect  all  alike,  still  not 
one  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries  obeyed  it.  On  the  21st  of  August, 
Lieutenant  A.  T.  Rogers  writes  to  Governor  Abernethy,  as  follows : — 

"  FORT  LEE.  WASCOPUM,  Aug.  21,  1848. 

"  Believing  it  to  be  my  duty  to  let  you  know  any  thing  of  moment 
that  transpires  at  this  station,  for  this  purpose  I  now  address  you. 

"  At  about  2  o'clock,  p.  M.,  at  this  place,  a  boat  arrived,  consigned  to 
the  French  priests  who  have  taken  up  their  residence  here,  loaded 
with  eight  casks  of  powder;  six  of  them  150  pounds  each,  and  two  of 
them  90  pounds  each,  making  1,080  pounds.  I  also  took  fifteen  sacks 
of  balls,  100  pounds  in  each  cask;  three  sacks  of  buck  or  goose  shot, 
100  pounds  each,  making  1,800  pounds  of  ball  and  buck-shot ;  counted 
one  sack  of  the  balls  and  found  about  3,000  balls.  I  also  took  three 
boxes  of  guns ;  opened  one  box,  and  found  twelve  guns. 

"The  general  conviction  at  the  fort  was,  that  not  more  than  500 
pounds  of  powder  in  all  had  been  forwarded  for  the  army  by  the 
government,  probably  not  even  that  amount.  I  was  told  by  the  priest 
from  an  interior  station,  as  also  by  one  at  the  Dalles,  that  the  powder 
was  for  four  stations,  viz. :  Coaur  d'Alenes,  Flatheads,  Ponderays,  and 
Okanagons;  and  this  had  been  purchased  at  Vancouver  the  year 
before.  I  judged  that  at  least  one-third  of  their  outfit  was  ammunition. 

"  Three  days  previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  ammunition,  four  Indians, 
embracing  their  chief  from  the  Waiama  village,  near  the  mouth  of 
Des  Chutes,  came  into  the  fort,  much  alarmed,  saying  there  had  been 
Cayuses  to  them,  declaring  that  the  priests  were  going  to  furnish  them 
plenty  of  ammunition,  and  that  they  were  going  to  kill  oif  all  the 
Americans  and  all  the  Indians  about  that  place^and  the  Cayuses 
wanted  them  to  join  them ;  said  also  that  out  of  fear  of  the  Cayuses 
they  had  sent  away  all  their  women  and  children.  We  had  the  best  of 
evidence  that  they  were  frightened.  Out  of  some  four  or  five  hundred 


SEIZURE   OF  AMMUNITION.  585 

souls  along  the  river,  between  the  fort  and  the  Chutes  of  the  Colum 
bia,  not  a  soul  was  to  be  seen  on  either  side, — all,  they  said,  were  hid  in 
the  mountains.  It  was  some  ten  days  before  the  Indians  came  from 
their  hiding-places. 

"  When  the  munitions  came,  Quartermaster  Johnson  swore  he 
believed  the  priests  designed  them  for  the  Cayuses ;  said  also,  a  man 
in  this  country  did  not  know  when  he  was  in  a  tight  place. 

"  I  must  say  I  also  believed  it. 

"  A.  T.  ROGERS,  Lieutenant  Commanding  Post."  * 

The  following  editorial  notice  of  the  above  letter  is  copied  from  the 
Oregon  Spectator  of  September  V,  1848: — - 

"  By  reference  to  the  above  letter  by  Lieutenant  Rogers  to  Gov 
ernor  Abernethy,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  arms  and  ammunition 
attempted  to  be  taken  into  the  upper  Indian  country  by  Catholic 
priests,  have  been  seized  by  Lieutenant  Rogers,  and  deposited  in  Fort 
Lee.  Orders  had  been  dispatched  to  Lieutenant  Rogers  to  seize  and 
detain  those  munitions.  [A  mistake  of  the  editor.  Lieutenant  Rogers 
seized  the  ammunition,  and  wrote  for  orders.]  Much  credit  is  due  to 
Lieutenant  Rogers  and  the  little  garrison  at  Fort  Lee  for  the  prompt 
ness  and  efficiency  with  which  they  acted  in  the  matter. 

"  We  understand  that  there  was  no  disposition  on  the  part  of  the 
officers  of  the  government  to  destroy  or  confiscate  those  munitions, 
but  that  they  were  detained  to  prevent  their  transportation  into  the 
Indian  country  under  the  present  juncture  of  affairs. 

"  We  had  intended  to  have  spoken  upon  the  attempt  by  Catho 
lic  priests  to  transport  such  a  quantity  of  arms  and  ammunition  into 
the  Indian  country  at  this  time,  but  as  those  munitions  have  been 
seized  and  are  now  safe,  we  abstain  from  present  comment  upon  the 
transaction !" 

The  above  notice  of  the  transaction,  as  given  by  Lieutenant  Rogers, 
is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  man  who  occupied  the  place  of  an  ^editor  at 
the  time  this  infamous  course  was  being  carried  on  in  Oregon  by  the 
two  parties  engaged  in  supplying  the  Indians  with  war  materials.  No 
one  will  suppose  for  a  moment  that  these  priests  ever  bought  or  owned 
the  powder  and  arms;  their  own  private  supplies  may  have  been  in  the 
cargo,  but  the  ammunition  and  arms  were  on  the  way  into  the  Indian 
country,  under  their  priestly  protection,  for  the  benefit  of  their  masters, 

*  From  original  letter. 


536  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

the  Hudson's  Cay  Company,  who,  as  we  have  repeatedly  proved,  were 
acting  in  concert  upon  the  prejudices  and  superstitions  of  the  Indians. 

Was  it  a  great  undertaking  for  that  company  to  drive  a  thousand  or 
twelve  hundred  American  settlers  from.  Oregon  at  that  time  ? 

Robert  Newell,  already  known  to  our  readers,  says,  in  speaking  of 
missionaries  and  settlers,  "  They  could  not  have  remained  in  the  country 
a  week  without  the  consent  and  aid  of  that  company,  nor  could  the  set 
tlers  have  remained  as  they  did  up  to  1848."  We"  are  willing  to  admit 
Mr.  Newell' s  position  only  in  part.  We  know  that  company's  power  and 
influence  in  Washington  and  London;  we  also  know  fully  what  they 
attempted  to  do  from  1812  to  1821,  and  only  succeeded  by  a  compro 
mise  with  their  opponent.  We  also  know  all  about  their  operations 
and  influences  in  Oregon,  and  are  ready  to  admit  that  they  had  the 
disposition  to  destroy  the  American  settlements.  We  also  know  the 
extent  of  the  effort  made  to  establish  a  claim  to  the  Oregon  country  by 
means  of  their  French  and  Hudson's  Bay  half-breeds,  and  we  are  fully 
aware  of  their  effort  to  procure  witnesses  to  substantiate  their  monstrous 
claims  for  old  rotten  forts  and  imaginary  improvements.  Knowing  all 
this,  we  deny  that  that  company  had  the  courage,  or  would  have  dared 
to  molest  a  single  American  citizen  or  missionary,  only  as  they  could 
influence  the  Indians  by  just  such  means  as  they  iised  to  destroy  Smith's 
party  on  the  Umpqua,  drive  Captain  Wyeth  and  the  American  Fur 
Company  from  the  country,  and  destroy  Dr.  Whitman's  settlement. 
Any  other  course  would  have  involved  the  two  countries  in  a  war,  and 
led  to  an  investigation  of  their  proceedings  and  of  their  charter. 

"  That  company,"  says  Mr.  Fitzgerald,  "  have  submitted  to  all  man 
ner  of  insult  and  indignity,  and  committed  all  manner  of  crime,  and 
they  dare  not  go  before  any  competent  tribunal  for  the  redress  of  any 
real  or  supposed  injury,  or  right  they  claim." 

This  brings  us  to  the  reason  that  Mr.  Douglas  gave  in  answer  to  Mr. 
Ogden,  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Ilinman,  "  There  might  be  other  than 
sectarian  causes "  for  the  Whitman  massacre,  and  here  we  have  the 
united  effort  of  priests  and  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  attribute  the 
massacre  to  measles  and  superstition,  while  we  have  the  positive  testi 
mony  of  Mr.  Kiruzey  and  others  to  show  that  the  whole  was  determined 
upon  before  any  sickness  was  among  the  Indians.  From  the  testimony 
of  General  Palmer,  the  Donner  party,  Mr.  limes,  and  Mr.  Ogden,  we 
find  but  the  one  effort;  which  was,  to  prevent,  or  diminish  as  much  as 
was  possible,  the  settlement  of  the  country.  And  why  ?  To  answer 
this  question  clearly,  we  have  traced  the  early  history  of  that  monster 
monopoly  in  previous  chapters,  and  given  their  proceedings  in  countries 
under  their  exclusive  control.  To  illustrate  more  clearly  the  subject 


•'.A  CATHOLIC   CITIZEN." 

of  the  previous  and  present  chapters,  we  will  give  an  article  we  find  in 
the  Oregon  Argus  of  February  9,  1856,  eight  years  after  the  war. 
The  article  is  headed  : — 

"77ie  Catholic  Priests  and  the  War — 'A  Catholic  Citizen1  attended  to. 

"  To  the  Editor  of  the  Oregon  Argus  : 

"  SIR, — For  the  past  month  I  have  noticed  several  virulent  articles  in 
each  issue  of  your  paper,  all  tending  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  your 
readers  the  idea  that  the  Catholic  priests  were  the  head  and  front  of 
the  present  Indian  difficulties  ;  and  being  fearful  that  your  constant 
harping  upon  that  one  subject  might  render  you  a  monomaniac,  I  am 
induced  to  submit  to  your  Argus  eyes  a  few  facts  in  relation  to  the 
conduct  of  the  Catholic  priests  prior  to  and  during  the  present  war. 
In  your  issue  of  the  8th  inst.,  I  find  an  article  based  upon  the  following 
extract  from  the  official  report  of  Colonel  Nesmith  : — 

"  '"With  sundry  papers  discovered  in  the  mission  building,  was  a  let 
ter  written  by  the  priest,  Panclozy,  for  Kamaiyahkan,  head  chief  of  the 
Yankama  tribe,  addressed  to  the  officer  in  command  of  the  troops,  a  copy 
of  which  is  communicated  with  this  report.  There  was  also  found  an 
account-book  kept  by  this  priest  Panclozy,  which  is  now  in  the  custody 
of  Major  Raines.  This  book  contains  daily  entries  of  Pandozy's  trans 
actions  with  the  Indians,  and  clearly  demonstrates  the  indisputable 
fact  that  he  has  furnished  the  Indians  with  large  quantities  of  ammuni 
tion,  and  leaving  it  a  matter  of  doubt  whether  gospel  or  gunpowder 
was  his  principal  stock  in  trade.  The  priest  had  abandoned  the  mission, 
but  it  gave  unmistakable  evidence  of  being  cared  for,  and  attended 
to,  during  his  absence,  by  some  Yankama  Indian  parishioners.1 

"  You  then  proceed  with  great  sang  fro  id  to  pride  yourself  upon  the 
correct  '  position '  which  you  took  about  a  month  previous,  relative  to 
the  above  subject,  and  presuming  upon  the  safe  'position'  which  you 
thus  assumed,  you  say  the  priests  have  in  a  measure  prompted  the 
Indians  to  the  late  outbreak  !  A  bold  presumption,  truly,  when  we  find 
the  puny  evidence  which  you  have  to  back  your  '  position.'  You  fur 
ther  assert  as  a  fact,  '  that  in  this,  as  in  the  Cayuse  war,  these  priests 
have  been  detected  in  the  very  act  of  conveying  large  quantities  of 
powder  in  the  direction  of  the  camp  of  the  enemy.'  This,  sir,  is  &fact 
which  emanated  from  your  own  disordered  imagination,  as  during  the 
Cayuse  war  no  priest  was  ever  detected  in  any  such  a  position,  and  you 
know  it;  but  then,  it  must  be  recollected  that  a  little  buncombe  capital 
does  not  come  amiss  at  this  time,  and  if  you  can  make  it  off  of  a  poor 
priest  by  publishing  a  tissue  of  groundless  falsehoods  against  him,  why 
even  that  is  'grist  to  your  mill.' ' 


588  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

"  The  foregoing  is  a  portion  of  a  communication  which  appeared  in 
the  Standard  of  December  13,  over  the  signature  of  'A  Catholic 
Citizen.'  The  writer  of  that  article,  in  endeavoring  to  blind  the  eyes 
of  his  readers,  and  his  pretending  to  correct  us  in  reference  to  certain 
statements  we  had  made  concerning  a  few  things  connected  with  the 
present  Indian  war,  as  also  the  Cayuse  war  of  1848,  in  which  the  Cath 
olic  priests  had  by  their  intercourse  with  the  savages  created  more  than 
a  suspicion  in  the  minds  of  the  community  that  they  were  culpably 
implicated  in  the  crimson  character  of  these  tragedies,  wisely  intrenched 
himself  behind  a  fictitious  signature.  He  has  thereby  thrown  the 
responsibility  of  some  three  columns  of  pointless  verbiage,  flimsy  soph 
istry,  and  Jesuitical  falsehoods,  upon  the  shoulders  of  an  irresponsible, 
intangible,  ghostly  apparition,  probably  very  recently  dismissed  from 
some  sepulcher  at  Rome,  or  from  the  carcass  of  an  Irishman  just 
swamped  in  the  bogs  of  Ireland. 

"  Seven  or  eight  weeks  have  now  elapsed  since  we  called  upon  this 
Roman  Catholic  citizen  to  emerge  from  his  hiding-place  among  the 
tombstones,  and  if  he  was  really  incarnate,  with  a  body  of  flesh  and 
bones,  such  as  the  rest  of  us  have,  to  throw  off  the  mask,  and  not  only 
give  us  a  full  view  of  his  corporeal  developments,  but  also  to  send  us  a 
copy  of  the  book  by  which  he  cleared  Pandozy,  and  justified  himself  in 
issuing,  from  his  sweat-house  Vatican,  his  bull  of  excommunication 
against  us. 

"  We  have  thus  far  c  harked  '  in  vain  for  a  sound  *  from  the  tombs.' 
Like  a  true  Jesuit,  that  loves  darkness  rather  than  light,  he  not  only 
still  persists  in  keeping  his  name  in  the  dark,  and  keeping  the  '  book ' 
we  rightfully  called  for  in  the  dark,  but  attempts  to  enshroud  the  whole 
subject  in  total  darkness,  by  making  up  his  own  case  from  such  parts 
of  Pandozy's  book  as  he  chooses  to  have  exposed,  and  then*  thrusting 
the  whole  manuscript  into  a  dark  corner  of  his  dark-colored  coat,  and 
in  order  to  darken  what  light  we  had  already  shed  in  upon  the  dark 
nest  of  Jesuits,  among  the  dark-skinned  and  dark-hearted  savages,  he 
most  solemnly  denies  as  false  the  most  important  of  the  dark  charges 
we  made  against  them,  and  then,  after  '  darkening  counsel'  by  a  whole 
column  of  '  words  without  knowledge,'  by  which,  like  the  cuttle-fish, 
lie  darkens  the  waters  to  elude  the  hand  of  his  pursuer,  and  then,  under 
cover  of  all  this  darkness,  he  dodges  into  his  dark  little  sweat-house, 
and  issues  his  terrible  bull  consigning  us  to  a  very  dark  place,  where 
the  multitudes  of  dark  Jesuits  that  have  gone  before  us  have  doubtless 
made  it  l  as  dark  as  a  stack  of  black  cats.'  But  what  makes  the  case 
still  darker  is,  that  while  c  Catholic  Citizen '  refuses  to  expose  his  per 
sonal  outlines  to  our  *  Argus  eyes,'  but  intimates  that  as  he  is  a  member 


"A  CATHOLIC   CITIZEN."  5S9 

of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  of  the  Democratic  party,  if  we  let  off  a 
broadside  upon  either  of  these  societies,  and  wound  either  of  their  car 
casses,  the  one  bloated  on  the  blood  of  saints,  and  the  other  on  the  juice 
of  corn,  we-shall  of  course  inflict  a  material  injury  upon  him,  upon  the 
principle  that  *  when  one  of  the  members  suffers,  all  the  members  suffer 
with  it ;'  we  say,  that  in  view  of  the  fact  that  after  *  Catholic  Citizen ' 
has  claimed  to  be  a  member  of  both  these  organizations,  the  Corvallis 
organ  of  the  Sag  Nichts  and  Jesuits  has  whet  the  razor  of  authority, 
and  lopped  him  off,  as  a  heterodox  member,  and  consigned  him  to  the 
fires  of  damnation,  because  '  Catholic  Citizen '  has  intimated  that  the 
two  bodies  were  not  identical,  thus  wisely  enveloping  him  in  a  dark 
cloud,  and  translating  him  far  beyond  the  reach  of  our  guns,  makes 
the  case  terribly  dark  indeed. 

" '  He  (Catholic  Citizen)  displays  the  cloven  foot  of  either  direct 
opposition  to  the  Democratic  organization,  or  sore-head-ism  and  disaf 
fection  with  that  organization.  *  *  *  We  can  hardly  conceive  that 
the  author  of  that  communication  is  a  Catholic,  or  a  friend  of  the  Cath 
olic  Church.' — Statesman  of  Dec.  25. 

"  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  editor  of  the  '  organ'  takes  him  by  the 
top  tuft,  and  applies  the  'rapin  hook'  to  his  neck  as  a  heretic,  and  not 
a  genuine  Catholic,  because  of  his  '  sore-head-ism  and  disaffection  with 
the  Democratic  organization,'  thus  unequivocally  asserting  that  the 
church  and  the  clique  are  identical,  or  so  closely  identified  that  in  plac 
ing  himself  in  opposition  to  the  one,  he  proves  that  he  is  not  a  friend  of 
the  other.  Now  whether  the  action  of  the  organ  has  been  from  a  mali 
cious  desire  to  'bury  him  out  of  our  sight'  as  an  'unfruitful  branch'  of 
the  Catholic  and  Democratic  trunk,  or  whether  he  intended  in  mercy  to 
wrap  him  up  in  his  Nessean  shirt,  and  hide  him  from  our  view  by  deny 
ing  to  him  the  only  earthly  position  he  assumed,  it  matters  not  par 
ticularly  to  us.  We  shall  probably  teach  him,  or  his  ghost,  in  due 
time,  a  lesson  which  we  long  since  whipped  into  the  tough  and  slimy 
hide  of  the  biped  who  controls  the  Statesman,,  and  which  he  and  his 
ilk  would  do  well  to  read  in  the  welts  that  checker  his  back,  before 
they  make  their  onslaughts  upon  us,  viz.,  whenever  we  state  a  thing 
to  be  true,  you  may  rest  assured  that  it  is  so,  and  by  calling  it  in  question, 
you  may  be  sure  you  will  provoke  the  proof.  We  are  not  of  that  class 
of  lying  editors  who  make  false  charges  which  they  are  not  able  to 
sustain,  and  we  have  never  yet  vouched  for  the  truth  of  a  statement, 
and  been  afterward  compelled  to  back  out  of  it.  Whenever  we  make 
a  mistake,  on  account  of  bad  information,  we  are  sure  to  make  the  cor 
rection  as  soon  as  we  are  apprised  of  it,  whether  the  statement  affects 
the.  character  or  interest  of  friend  or  foe,  or  neither. 


590  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

"  Your  vile  innuendo,  that  we  wished  to  make  a  little  buncombe  capital 
off  a  poor  sniveling  priest,  is  readily  excused,  knowing  as  we  do  your 
impressions  from  associating  with  political  comrades  who  neither  yield 
to  nor  expect  justice  or  decency  from  their  political  opponents;  and 
presuming  also  that  the  moment  you  stepped  your  foot  upon  American 
soil,  with  your  little  budget  of  Irish  rags,  some  demagogue  put  a  loco- 
foco  hook  into  your  nose,  and  led  you  off  to  the  political  pound  to  learn 
your  catechism,  so  fast  that  the  remaining  half  of  the  nether  extremity 
of  your  old  swallow-fork  made  a  right  angle  with  your  stalwart  frame. 
"We  know  very  well  what  sort  of  lessons  you  have  learned  out  of  that 
catechism;  how  you  have  been  duped  to  believe  that  the  principles  of 
Jefferson  and  other  old  sainted  Democrats  were  still  cherished  by  the 
designing  demagogues  who  have  taken  you  in  tow  ;  how  we  who  oppose 
this  office-hunting  party  are  i  down  upon  Catholics  and  foreigners ' 
simply  because  they  are  such ;  and  how  you  had  only  to  put  in  the 

*  clane  dimocratthic  ticket '  to  insure  yourself  great  and  glorious  privi 
leges.     Under  this  sort  of  training,  it  is  not  surprising  to  us  that  you  not 
only  expect  us  to  persecute  you  to  the  full  extent  that  a  priest  is  sworn 
to  '  persecute '  heretics,  but  that  you  are  constantly  in  fear  that  the 

*  Noo  JSTothins '  will  soon  be  ladling  soup  from  a  huge  kettle  that  con 
tains  your  quarters  boiled  up  with  Irish  potatoes. 

"  We  were  not  led  to  make  the  remarks  we  did  in  reference  to  the 
priests  because  they  were  Papists,  but  because  we  had  reason  to  believe 
they  were  traitors  to  our  government,  and  were  identified  with  the 
savages  in  the  present  war.  If  Methodist,  Presbyterian,  or  any  other 
Protestant  clergymen  had  rendered  themselves  equally  obnoxious,  we 
should  probably  have  given  our  opinion  at  the  time,  that  they  deserved 
to  be  brought  out  of  the  Indian  country,  with  all  their  *  traps,'  to  un 
dergo  a  trial  before  a  jury  for  their  lives. 

"  But,  sir,  to  one  of  your  falsehoods  : — 

'"  You  further  assert  as  a  fact,  "that  in  this,  as  in  the  Cayuse  war, 
these  priests  have  been  detected  in  the  very  act  of  conveying  large 
quantities  of  powder  in  the  direction  of  the  camp  of  the  enemy."  This, 
sir,  is  a  fact  which  emanated  from  your  own  distorted  imagination,  as 
during  the  Cayuse  war  no  priest  was  ever  detected  in  any  such  a 
position,  and  you  know  it.' 

"  Now,  sir,  we  did  not  suppose  that  there  was  a  man  green  enough 
in  all  Oregon  (excepting,  perhaps,  the  Statesman)  to  call  our  statement 
in  question.  We  happen  to  be  an  old  Oregonian  ourself,  and  profess  to 
be  pretty  well  posted  in  reference  to  many  occurrences  which  will 
make  up  the  future  history  of  this  lovely  yet  blood-stained  land.  The 
proof  of  our  assertion  we  supposed  could  be  come  at  by  our  file  of 


WHO   IS   THE    -'CATHOLIC   CITIZEN?"  591 

the  Spectator.  The  fact  was  still  vivid  in  our  memory.  At  the  date  of 
this  transaction  (August  21,  1848),  there  were  three  papers  printed 
in  the  Territory:  The  Free  Press,  an  8  by  12  sheet,  edited  by  G.  L. 
Curry,  present  governor  of  Oregon,  and  the  Oregon  Spectator,  a  22 
by  32  sheet,  edited  by  A.  E.  Wait,  Esq.,  both  published  at  Oregon 
City ;  besides  a  semi-monthly  pamphlet,  printed  in  the  Tualatin  Plains, 
and  edited  by  Rev.  J.  S.  Griffin.  Although  all  of  these  papers  at  the 
time  spoke  of  the  transaction  referred  to,  we  believe  none  of  them,  ex 
cepting  the  Spectator,  contained  the  official  correspondence  necessary  to 
make  out  our  case.  We  supposed,  and  so  did  many  others,  that  all  the 
old  files  of  the  Spectator  were  long  since  destroyed,  excepting  the  im 
perfect  one  in  our  office.  When  'A  Catholic  Citizen'  called  our  state 
ment  in  question,  we,  of  course,  referred  to  our  'file'  for  proof,  but  to 
our  astonishment  this  particular  paper  was  missing,  although  the  im 
mediate  preceding  and  succeeding  numbers  were  all  there,  embracing 
the  whole  summer  of  1848.  The  missing  number  was  accidentally  (?) 
misplaced,  of  course,  and  the  proof  of  that  transaction  supposed  to  be 
beyond  our  reach.  By  the  kindness  of  a  gentleman  we  have  been  fur 
nished  with  the  desired  copy  from  his  own  file."  (See  official  note  and 
letter  ns  previously  quoted.) 

"  Now,  will  '  A  Catholic  Citizen '  contend  that  our  statement,  in  ref 
erence  to  the  '  large  quantities  of  powder,'  is  not  fully  covered  by 
'  seven  or  eight  hundred  pounds  of  powder,  fifteen  hundred  pounds  of 
lead,  and  three  boxes  of  guns."9 

"A  man  who  can  unblushingly  utter  such  a  falsehood  as  he  has  been 
guilty  of,  to  create  a  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  these  priests,  is  below 
contempt,  and  we  feel  our  task  of  exposing  him  to  be  truly  humiliating 
We  have  branded  this  goat  with  an  L***,  which  will  stick  to  his  hide 
as  long  as  Cain  carried  his  mark;  and  we  now  turn  him  out  to  browse 
for  a  while  with  B.,  who  wears  about  a  dozen  of  the  same  brands, 
under  the  pain  of  which  we  have  sent  him  off  howling.  '  A  Catholic 
Citizen'  may  feed  on  ^ferrin"1  till  we  get  time  to  clap  the  same  brand  to 
him  again,  when  we  shalL  tie  him  up  to  the  post  and  again  scorch  his 
wool.'* 

In  reference  to  the  article,  as  quoted  from  the  Oregon  Argus,  it  is  not 
certainly  known  who  "  Catholic  Citizen  "  is,  but  the  impression  is  that 
the  production  is  from  the  pen  of  Hon.  P.  H.  Burnett  or  Sir  James 
Douglas,  and  not  impossible  from  Robert  Newell,  with  such  assistance 
as  he  could  obtain. 

If  from  either  of  those  gentlemen,  he  may  have  been  correctly  in 
formed  as  to  the  real  owners  of  the  munitions,  but  we  can  hardly  believe 


592  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Mr.  Douglas  or  Newell  would  lay  themselves  liable  to  the  falsehood 
charged  upon  them,  as  they  were  in  the  country,  and  must  have  known 
of  the  facts  in  the  case.  Mr.  Burnett  was  in  California,  and  may  have 
been  misled  by  his  informant.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  munitions  were 
found  on  their  way  into  the  Indian  country  in  charge  of  the  priests,  and 
the  remarks  of  the  editor  of  the  Argus,  W.  L.  Adams,  Esq.,  shows  the 
true  history  of  the  times,  and  the  continued  effort  of  the  Jesuits  and 
their  neophytes  to  continue  the  Indian  wars,  to  prevent  the  Protestant 
missionary  stations  from  being  reoccupied  and  the  settlement  of  the 
country  by  the  Americans,  as  intimated  by  Father  Hoikin,  in  his  letter 
to  his  society  in  Brussels. 

Our  provisional  army  did  not  capture  a  single  murderer  or  prominent 
Indian  engaged  in  the  massacre,  though  many  of  them  were  known  to 
have  been  frequently  with  the  priests  and  at  Fort  Wallawalla.  Neither 
the  priests,  McBean,  nor  the  indescribably  sympathizing  Sir  James 
Douglas  made  the  least  effort  to  bring  the  murderers  to  justice.  A  part 
of  them  were  given  up  by  the  tribe, — tried  and  hung  at  Oregon  City 
under  the  Territorial  government  of  the  United  states,  Judge  Pratt 
presiding.  In  the  trial,  the  same  influence  was  used  to  get  the  murderers 
acquitted  that  had  instigated  and  protected  them  in  the  commission  of 
the  crime. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  California  took  place  before  our  troops  had 
all  returned ;  the  universal  excitement  in  relation  to  it  caused  the  deser 
tion  of  a  large  portion  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  men,  and 
almost  an  abandonment  of  the  fur  trade  in  the  country  for  the  time. 
They,  however,  still  kept  up  the  semblance  of  fur  trade ;  and,  at  the 
expiration  of  their  parliamentary  license  in  1858,  withdrew  to  British 
Columbia  and  Vancouver  Island  to  repeat  upon  their  own  people  what 
they  have  practiced  so  successfully  and  so  long  upon  the  Americans. 

There  is,  connected  with  this  foreign  company,  11  sort  of  Jesuitical 
suavity  of  manner  and  boasting  propriety  that  naturally  deceives  all 
who  come  within  its  influence. 

All  its  titles  and  little  performances  of  charity  are  sounded  forth 
with  imperial  pomposity.  The  man  that  does  not  acknowledge  his 
obligations  to  it  for  being  permitted  to  remain  in  the  country  previous 
to  the  expiration  of  its  parliamentary  license,  is  considered  ungrateful 
by  it,  and  by  such  as  are  blind  to  its  infamous  practices. 


CHAPTER  LXIV. 

Missions  among  the  "Western  Indians. — The  Coeur  d'Alene  Mission. — Protestant  and 
Catholic  missions  compared. — What  the  American  Protestant  missionaries  have 
done  for  the  country  and  the  Indians. — Extent  of  their  influence,  progress,  and 
improvements. — Patriotism  of  Dr.  Whitman. 

ANY  person  who  has  read  the  previous  pages  of  this  volume  will 
not  charge  us  with  being  ignorant  of  missionary  operations  on  our 
western  coast.  Though  we  were  but  eight  years  connected  in  mechan 
ical  and  business  relations  with  them,  still  we  have  never  lost  sight  of 
their  labors,  or  their  intellectual,  moral,  religious,  political,  or  physical 
operations,  nor  of  their  personal  conduct,  or  their  adaptation  to  the 
work  assigned  them.  We  have  spoken  plainly  our  views,  and  im 
pressions  of  the  character,  conduct,  and  influence  of  all  prominent  men 
in  the  country.  Our  main  object  has  been  to  introduce  the  reader  to 
the  people  of  Oregon  at  the  time  in  which  they  wrere  acting  in  a  public 
capacity.  The  private  morals  of  the  country  have  only  been  incident 
ally  drawn  out  by  reference  to  a  petition  sent  to  Congress,  signed  by 
the  Rev.  David  Leslie,  in  1840.  In  that  document  Mr.  Leslie  does 
himself  and  the  country  an  injustice,  by  asserting  that  "theft,  murder, 
infanticide,  etc.,  are  increasing  among  them  to  an  alarming  extent" 
(Senate  Doc.,  26th  Congress,  1st  Session,  Xo.  514).  Those  charges 
Mr.  Leslie  no  doubt  sincerely  thought  to  be  true  at  that  time,  from  the 
occurrence  of  the  two  most  serious  crimes  about  the  time  he  wrote. 
But  such  crimes  were  by  no  means  common. 

It  is  often  asked,  What  good  have  the  missionaries  done  to  the 
Indians?  If  this  question  applied  alone  to  the  Jesuit  missionaries, 
brought  to  the  country  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  we  would  say 
unhesitatingly,  None  at  all.  What  few  Indians  there  are  now  in  the 
country  that  have  been  baptized  by  them,  and  have  learned  their 
religious  catechisms,  are  to-day  more  hopelessly  depraved,  and  are 
really  poorer  and  more  degraded  than  they  were  at  the  time  we  A'isited 
them  twenty-two  years  since,  looking  carefully  at  their  moral  and 
pecuniary  condition  then  and  now.  In  proof  of  which  we  give  the 
following  article : — 

"  Cceur  cTAlene  Mission. 

"  The  old  Mullan  road  from  the  Bitter  Root  or  Missoula  River  to 
the  Coeur  d'Alene  Mission,  shows  to  the  traveler  little  evidence  that 

38 


59-i  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

it  was  once  explored,  laid  out,  and  built  by  a  scientific  engineer. 
Decayed  remnants  of  bridges  are  scattered  all  along  the  Cceur  d' Alone 
and  St.  Regis  Borgia  rivers ;  excavations  have  been  filled  up  by  the 
dCbris  of  fallen  timber ;  huge  bowlders  that  have  rolled  down  the 
mountain  side,  constantly  crumbling  masses  of  slate,  and  huge  chasms, 
worn  or  torn  by  the  furious  progress  of  the  streams  swollen  by  the 
melting  snows  and  spring  rains,  obstruct  entirely  the  passage  of 
vehicles  of  all  kinds,  and  render  the  passage  of  pack  and  saddle  horses 
almost  impossible.  In  the  distance  of  eighty  miles,  you  cross  these  two 
rivers  one  hundred  and  forty-six  times,  climb  the  precipitous  sides  of 
numerous  mountains,  continually  jumping  your  horses  over  fallen  tim 
ber,  and  filing  to  the  right  and  left  to  avoid  the  impassable  barriers 
which  the  mountain  tornadoes  have  strewn  in  your  way.  The  gorges, 
through  which  the  road  sometimes  winds  to  avoid  the  mountains  of 
rocks  that  close  in  even  to  the  edge  of  the  main  stream,  are  narrow, 
and  so  completely  shaded,  that  the  rays  of  the  sun  have  never  pen 
etrated,  and  one  everlasting  cold,  chill  dampness  prevails.  Our  party 
were  halted  for  an  hour  in  one  of  those  passes  to  allow  the  passage  of 
a  herd  of  two  hundred  Spanish  cattle,  and,  although  when  we  emerged 
from  the  canon  we  found  the  sun  oppressively  hot,  I  do  not  remember 
ever  to  have  suffered  more  from  cold  in  any  climate  or  in  any  altitude. 
The  oppressiveness  seemed  to  spring  from  something  besides  the  mere 
temperature.  We  found  but  one  living  thing  in  those  narrow  caiions, 
and  that  was  the  most  diminutive  of  the  squirrel  species.  There  was  no 
song  of  birds  or  whir-r-r  of  partridge  or  grouse.  It  had  the  silence  of 
the  cold,  damp  grave. 

"  After  arriving  within  six  miles  of  the  mission,  the  cation  of  the 
Coeur  d' Alone  opens  out  to  about  four  miles  in  width,  and  you  come 
suddenly  to  Mud  Prairie, — a  broad,  open  park,  with  here  and  there  a 
solitary  pine,  and  the  ground  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  swamp 
grass,  which  stock  will  only  eat  when  nothing  better  can  be  obtained. 
Two  hours  more,  and  the  mission,  with  its  stately  church  (so  it  appears 
in  the  mountains),  suddenly  presents  itself  to  view. 

"  Dilapidated  fences  are  passed,  rude  Indian  houses  made  of c  shakes,' 
fields  of  wheat  and  vegetables  overrun  with  weeds,  and  at  last,  making 
the  one  hundred  and  forty-sixth  crossing  of  the  river,  you  halt  your 
hungry  and  jaded  horses  in  front  of  the  rudest  piece  of  architecture 
that  ever  supported  a  cross  or  echoed  to  the  A.ve  Maria  of  the  Catho 
lic  faith.  Rude  though  it  is,  when  we  consider  the  workmen  by  whom 
it  was  constructed  and  the  tools  employed,  the  feeling  of  ridicule  and 
smile  of  contempt  will  give  way  to  admiration  of  the  energy  and 
(though  I  think  mistaken)  zeal  which  sustained  the  Jesuit  fathers 


THE  CCEUR  D'ALENE  MISSION.  595 

during  what  was  to  them,  at  that  time,  a  most  herculean  labor.  The 
building  is  46  by  60  feet,  and  30  feet  posted,  and  was  two  years  in 
process  of  construction.  The  workmen  were  two  or  three  Jesuit 
priests,  assisted  by 'a  few  Indians,  and  the  reverend  fathers  showed  me 
a  saw,  an  auger,  an  ax,  and  an  old  jack-plane,  their  only  tools.  It  is 
situated  on  a  little  elevation  from  the  main  valley.  On  the  left  is  the 
dwelling  of  the  fathers,  and  still  to  the  left  is  the  storehouse,  hospital, 
workshop,  and  building  for  the  sick  and  crippled  recipients  of  their 
benefactions.  Around  the  slope  of  the  elevation  are  scattered  Indian 
huts  and  tepees,  and  at  its  base  lies  the  resting-place  of  departed 
Indians  who  had  died  in  the  faith  and  gone  to  the  hunting-grounds 
of  the  Great  Spirit.  In  front  of  all,  the  Cceur  d'Alene,  seemingly 
satisfied  with  the  havoc  which  its  furious  progress  had  made,  runs 
slowly  and  sluggishly  along.  The  interior  of  the  church  is  a  curiosity. 
Here  you  see  the  marks  of  an  unfortunate  stroke  from  a  clumsy  ax- 
man;  there  a  big  Indian  had  sawed  a  stick  of  timber  half  off  in  the 
wrong  place  ;  in  another  spot,  a  little  Indian  had  amused  himself 
boring  holes  with  the  auger,  while  the  joints  l  broke '  like  a  log-house 
before  chinking.  I  was  told  that  in  its  original  construction  there  was 
not  a  nail  used  ;  but  lately  some  efforts  have  been  made  to  smooth 
down  the  rough  exterior  by  the  addition  of  cornice  and  corner-boards. 
"  The  priests  are  very  jealous  of  their  claims  to  the  territory  around 
the  mission,  and  regard  the  unlimited  control  of  the  Indians  as  a  right 
which  they  have  acquired  by  their  self-sacrificing  labors,  and  as  a  duty 
on  the  part  of  the  Indians  in  return  for  tne  salvation  of  their  souls  and 
absolution  from  their  sins.  For  my  part,  from  an  acquaintance  with 
twelve  tribes  of  Indians,  among  whom  the  gospel  has  been  preached, 
and  the  forms,  mysteries,  and  ceremonies  of  the  Catholic  Church  intro 
duced,  I  have  failed  to  see  a  soul  saved,  or  one  single  spark  of 
Indian  treachery,  cruelty,  or  barbarism  extinguished.  The  lamented 
General  Wright  thrashed  the  murdering  propensities  of  the  Coeur 
d'Alene  Indians  out  of  them.  The  balance  of  their  virtues — stealing, 
drinking,  and  supreme  laziness — they  possess  in  as  large  a  share  as  they 
did  before  the  heart  of  Saint  Alene  was  sent  among  them.  I  would 
like  to  give  a  favorable  portrait  of  this  mission  and  its  occupants, 
if  I  could.  I  would  like  to  say  that  the  reverend  fathers  were  neat, 
cleanly,  intelligent,  hospitable  individuals,  but  there  are  too  many  who 
travel  that  road,  and  it  would  be  pronounced  false.  I  would  like 
to  say  they  were  sowing  the  seed  of  civilization  and  cultivating  it 
successfully  in  the  untutored  mind  of  the  poor  red  man,  but  truth 
forbids.  I  would  at  least  be  glad  that  they  urged  upon  the  Indians  to 
obey  the  laws  of  this  government  and  respect  the  property  of  its 


59f>  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

citizens,  but  must  leave  that  task  to  some  one  who  has  never  bought 
of  them  horse  meat  for  beef,  and  traveled  for  days  on  foot,  because 
they  would  not,  from  pure  deviltry,  sell  him  one  horse  out  of  a  band  of 
two  or  three  hundred.  I  say  not  these  tilings  with  any  reference 
v  to  the  Catholic  Church  or  its  belief,  nor  am  I  forgetful  of  what  I  have 
read  of  the  Jesuits  of  St.  Bernard  and  their  acts  of  humanity ;  but 
for  the  filthy,  worthless,  superannuated  relics  of  Italian  ignorance, 
who  have  posted  themselves  midway  between  the  extremes  of  Pacific 
and  Atlantic  civilization,  acknowledging  no  law  save  that  of  their 

/  O        O 

church,  I  have  not  the  slightest  particle  of  respect,  and  believe 
with  an  old  packer,  *  that  it  was  a  great  pity  General  Wright  had 
not  carried  his  threat  into  execution,  and  blown  the  den  over  the 
range.'  "* 

These  Indians  were  among  the  most  honest,  peaceable,  and  hopeful 
of  any  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  mission  here  spoken  of  is 
the  one  represented  by  Fathers  De  Smet  and  Hoikin  as  their  most  suc 
cessful  one  west  of  the  mountains.  We  have  reason  to  believe  that 
Colonel  Dow's  statements  are  correct,  from  remarks  made  by  other 
travelers,  as  also  from  Father  Joset's  own  confession.  On  the  61st 
page  of  "  Indian  Sketches,"  he  says  :  "  I  have  been  here  nearly  fifteen 
years ;  I  am  not  yet  master  of  the  language,  and  am  far  from  flattering 
myself  with  becoming  so.  My  catechist  remarked  to  me,  the  other 
day,  'You  pronounce  like  a  child  learning  to  talk;  when  you  speak  of 
religion  we  understand  you  well,  but  when  you  change  the  subject  it  is 
another  thing.'  That  is  all  I'want.  I  have  at  last  succeeded  in  trans 
lating  the  catechism ;  I  think  it  is  nearly  correct.  You  can  hardly 
imagine  what  it  cost  me  to  do  it ;  I  have  been  constantly  at  it  since  my 
arrival  here ;  I  finished  it  last  winter ;  nevertheless  it  is  short ;  it  has 
but  fourteen  lessons ;  it  is  based  upon  the  first  part  of  the  Catechism  of 
Lyons.  This  catechism  is  printed, -not  on  paper,  but  on  the  memory 
of  the  children." 

According  to  Father  Joset's  own  statement,  it  has  taken  him  nearly 
fifteen  years  to  learn  their  language  sufficiently  well  to  teach  the  chil 
dren  fourteen  lessons  in  the  catechism,  about  as  much  time  as  some  of 
our  Protestant  missionaries  have  consumed  in  translating  the  whole  of 
the  New  Testament,  and  a  large  part  of  the  Old,  into  heathen  languages, 
besides  establishing  schools,  where  they  teach  the  people  to  read  the 
pure  word  of  God  and  practice  its  sacred  principles,  instead  of  follow 
ing  the  traditions  of  men. 

Father  Joset  continues :     "  From  the  end  of  November  to  Palm  Sun- 

*  From  the   Oregon  Herald  of  May  5,   1866. 


FATHER  JOSET   AND   THE   CCEUR  D'ALENES.  597 

day,  on  which  day  this  ceremony  (children's  first  communion)  took 
place,  they  had  catechism  at  the  church  three  times  a  day,  and  it  was 
rare  that  one  missed  the  exercise ;  besides  this,  there  was  a  repetition 
every  day,  either  before  the  chief  or  the  catechist.  I  give  catechism 
three  hundred  times  a  year.  I  doubt  whether  there  is  a  catechist  in  the 
world  more  utterly  deprived  of  the  means  of  encouraging  his  pupils. 
Some  prayer  beads  would  have  been  a  great  reward,  but  I  could  give 
them  nothing  but  a  medal  to  each,  as  a  memorial  of  their  first  com 
munion." 

This  reverend  father,  in  speaking  of  the  Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
as  it  is  called,  says:  "It  is  a  magnificent  monument  to  the  faith  of 
the  Coeur  d'Alenes,  who  have  given  the  lie  to  their  name  by  its  erec 
tion.  If  it  were  finished,  it  would  be  a  handsome  church  even  in 
Europe.  The  design  is  by  Father  Ravalli ;  it  is  ninety  feet  long  by 
forty  wide ;  it  has  twenty-eight  pillars,  two  and  a  half  feet  square 
by  twenty-five  feet  in  height ;  all  the  rest  is  of  timber,  and  in  pro 
portion." 

Compare  this  with  Colonel  Dow's  description  of  the  same  building. 
It  will  be  seen,  by  the  quotations  we  have  given,  how  these  "filthy, 
worthless,  superannuated  relics  of  Italian  ignorance  "  employ  them 
selves  and  the  Indians  under  their  instruction.  None  but  a  bigot  or  a 
Jesuit  will  pretend  that  such  instructions  tend  to  enlarge,  to  elevate,  or 
civilize  the  savage  mind.  We  have  only  to  look  to  countries  grown 
old  under  just  such  teachings,  to  see  its  legitimate  results. 

From  the  Roman  Catholic  works  before  us,  on  the  Oregon  missions, 
embracing  over  eight  hundred  pages,  one  would  conclude  that  over 
forty  different  tribes  who  have  been  visited  by  these  Jesuits,  in  the  ter 
ritory  of  the  United  States,  were  all  converted  and  Christian  Indians, 
ready  to  shout,  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,"  and  peace  all  over  our 
Indian  country.  But  Colonel  Dow  says  he  failed  to  see  "  one  single 
spark  of  Indian  treachery,  cruelty,  or  barbarism  extinguished  "  among 
the  tribes  he  visited,  who  were  taught  by  these  priests. 

De  Smet,  the  prince  and  father  of  Jesuitism  in  the  Indian  country,  as 
early  as  December  30,  1854,  five  years  before  the  Southern  rebellion 
commenced,  communicated  to  his  society  in  Brussels  his  approval  and 
desire  to  have  all  these  Indians  join  the  confederate  United  States,  as 
their  last  and  only  hope.  This  measure,  he  says,  the  Protestant  mis 
sionaries  strongly  opposed.  He  says,  also,  that  Harkins,  the  Choctaw 
chief,  proposes  the  expulsion  of  the  Protestant  missionaries ;  we  add^ 
for  their  strong  allegiance  to  their  government,  and  their  opposition 
to  this  Jesuitical  confederate  United  States  scheme  (See  his  letter, 
"  Western  Missions,"  page  206).  Such  missionaries,  we  are  forced  to 


598  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

admit,  have  done  no  good  to  the  Indians,  and,  we  again  repeat  the 
question,  What  good  have  the  missionaries  done  ? 

The  writer  will  answer,  that  before  he  left  the  Whitman  station  in 
1842,  there  were  three  hundred  and  twenty-two  Indian  families  among 
the  Cayuse  and  Nez  Perce  tribes  that  had  commenced  to  cultivate,  and 
were  beginning  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  little  farms.  About  one 
hundred  of  them  were  talking  about  locating,  and  were  looking  for 
places  and  material  for  building  themselves  more  permanent  houses. 
We  have  never  doubted  for  a  moment  that  the  Cayuse,  Nez  Perce,  and 
Spokan  tribes  would,  in  twenty-five  years  from  the  time  the  missions  of 
the  American  Board  were  located  among  them  (if  let  alone  by  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company  and  Roman  priests),  have  become  a  civilized,  indus 
trious,  and  happy  Christian  people,  ready  to  have  entered  as  honorable 
and  intelligent  citizens  of  our  American  Republic. 

The  unparalleled  energy  and  success  attending  the  eiforts  of  the  mis 
sionaries  among  these  two  powerful  migratory  tribes  excited  the 
jealousy,  and  aroused  the  extreme  opposition  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  and  caused  them  to  encourage  the  largest  possible  number 
of  Jesuits  to  come  to  the  country  and  locate  themselves  immediately 
in  the  vicinity  of  those  missions,  and  use  every  possible  influence  to 
dissuade  the  Indians  from  attending  the  missionary  schools,  cultivating 
their  little  farms,  or  attending  in  the  least  to  any  instruction,  except 
such  as  was  given  by  the  priests  when  they  came  to  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company's  forts  for  trade,  as  they  came  at  stated  times  to  the  fort,  be 
fore  the  American  missionaries  came  to  the  country.  The  Jesuit  mis 
sionary  teaching  did  not  interfere  with  the  roving  and  hunting  life  of 
the  Indians,  while  the  plan  of  settling  and  civilizing  them  proposed, 
and  in  a  measure  carried  out,  by  the  American  missions,  did  directly 
interfere  with  the  company's  fur  trappers  and  hunters.  This  at  first 
was  not  so  regarded,  but  a  moment's  reflection  establishes  the  fact. 
Every  Indian  that  became  a  settler,  or  farmer,  had  no  occasion  to  hunt 
for  furs  to  get  his  supplies. 

The  moral  influence  of  those  missions  upon  the  Indians  was  good : 
the  Nez  Perce  and  the  Protestant  part  of  the  Cayuses  and  Spokans 
have,  through  all  the  Indian  wars,  remained  true  and  loyal  to  the  Amer 
ican  government,  while,  with  perhaps  a  single  exception,  those  who 
have  been  under  the  opposing  religious  teachings  have  been  at  war  with 
our  American  people  all  over  our  territory.  The  Methodist  missionary 
influence  upon  the  natives  was  good,  so  far  as  they  had  an  opportunity 
to  exert  any.  At  the  Dalles  it  was  certainly  good  and  lasting,  notwith 
standing  the  Jesuits  placed  a  station  alongside  of  them.  The  Method 
ists  were,  from  the  commencement  of  their  mission,  interfered  with  in 


INFLUENCE  OF   THE   PROTESTANT   MISSIONS.   -  599 

every  way  possible,  in  their  efforts  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  In 
dians,  and  induce  them  to  cultivate  their  lands  and  leave  the  hunting 
of  fur  animals.  As  Rev.  Mr.  Beaver  said  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  the  life  (and,  we  will  add,  the  present  condition  and  future 
happiness)  of  the  Indian  race  had  no  influence  upon  that  company 
when  put  in  comparison  with  the  few  beavers  they  might  hunt  and  sell 
to  them.  Still  the  Methodist  influence  was  sufficient,  up  to  the  arrival 
of  the  French  priests,  and  four  years  after,  to  keep  up  a  flourishing 
native  school,  notwithstanding  the  French  half-breed  children  were 
withdrawn  from  them,  and  placed  under  the  tuition  of  the  priests 
on  French  Prairie.  The  result  of  that  Jesuitical  teaching  is  embodied 
in  the  law  disfranchising  all  half-breeds,  except  American,  from  the 
privileges  of  American  citizens,  for  the  course  they  took  in  the  Indian 
wars  against  the  American  settlements  and  government.  The  larger 
portion  of  them,  and  especially  those  adhering  to  the  company  and  the 
teachings  of  their  priests,  have  gone  into  British  Columbia,  carrying 
with  them  an  implacable  hatred  of  our  people  and  government.  As  to 
the  good  the  American  missionaries  have  done  to  the  Indians  on  this 
coast,  we  can  point  to-day,  more  than  thirty  years  from  the  commence 
ment  of  their  labors,  to  improvements,  made  and  kept  up  by  the  Indians, 
that  were  commenced  under  the  direction  of  those  missionaries.  We 
can  point  to  Indian  families  who  have  strictly  adhered  to  the  Protestant 
religious  forms  of  worship  taught  them  by  the  American  missionaries. 
We  have  the  testimony  of  General  Benjamin  Alvord,  of  the  United 
States  army,  on  this  point.  After  saying  (September  10,  1854)  that 
the  Nez  Perces  never  shared  in  the  hostile  feelings  of  the  Cayuses, 
declined  to  join  in  the  war  of  1847  against  the  whites,  and  have  since 
steadily  and  repeatedly  refused  to  do  so,  he  proceeds  as  follows :  "  In 
the  spring  of  1853  a  white  man,  who  had  passed  the  previous  winter  in 
the  country  of  the  Nez  Perces,  came  to  the  military  post  at  the  Dalles, 
and,  on  being  questioned  as  to  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  tribe, 
he  said  that  he  wintered  with  a  band  of  several  hundred  in  number, 
and  that  the  whole  party  assembled  every  morning  and  evening  for 
prayer,  the  exercises  being  conducted  by  one  of  themselves,  and  in 
their  own  language.  He  stated,  that  on  Sunday  they  assembled  for 
exhortation  and  worship.  The  writer  of  this  communication  made  re 
peated  inquiries,  and  these  accounts  have  been  confirmed  by  the  state 
ments  of  others  who  have  resided  among  them.  Thus,  six  years  after 
the  forced  abandonment  of  the  mission,  its  benign  effects  are  witnessed 
among  that  interesting  people." 

In  addition  to  the  above,  we  would  add  our  own  observations  made  in 
1861   among  those  Indians.     That  year  they  were  more  sorely  tried 


600  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

than  ever  before.     Gold  bad  just  been  discovered  in  their  country,  and 
thousands  of  unarmed  miners  were  passing  and  repassing  all  through 
it.     The  disaifected  Cay  uses  were  among  them,  urging  them  to  join  and 
rescue  their  country  from  the  Bostons.     We  met  some  twenty-live  of 
the  chiefs  and  principal  men,  and   conversed  with  them   in   the  most 
friendly  and  familiar  manner  about  their  country  and  their  situation.; 
the  old  scenes  of  the  mission;  the  killing  of  Dr.  Whitman  and  those  at 
his  station  ;  all  the  reasons  assigned ;  the  causes  and  the  result  of  the 
Doctor's  death,  and  its  effect  on  the  Cayuses.     Having  no  disposition 
to  deceive  them,  we  inquired  distinctly  if  there  was  gold  in  their  country. 
They  told  us  frankly  there  was,   and  that  they  had  seen   it,  as  the 
Americans  had  taken  it  away.     They  then  asked  what  they  had  better 
do ; — if  it  was  not  best  for  them  to  join  the  Cayuses,  and  drive  the 
Americans  from  their  country.     They  said  the  agent  had  told  them  to 
keep  quiet,  and  in  a  few  years  the  whites  would  get  out  the  gold    and 
leave  the  country,  and  their  buildings  and  improvements  would  be  their 
own.    We  replied :  There  are  two  things  you  can  do.    These  miners  will 
come  to  your  country  ;  they  are  bound  to  have  the  gold.     Now,  you 
can  join  the  Cayuses,  and  go  to  killing  them  off  if  you  choose,  but  you 
will  soon  find  yourselves  in  the  condition  of  the  Cayuses, — roving  about, 
without  a  home  or  country,  and  the  more  miners  you  kill,  the  sooner 
you  will  be  £ut  off,  and  your  country  occupied  by  strangers.    Our  advice 
is,  that  you  remain  quiet  and  improve  your  farms ;  as  fast  as  you  can, 
educate  your  children  ;  become  like  the  Americans,  and  live  in  peace 
with  all  who  come  to  settle,  or  dig  gold  in  your  country.     This  course 
will  insure  you  protection  from  the  American  people. 

We  have  reason  to  believe  this  advice  was  followed  in  a  measure,  at 
least,  as  no  whites  have  been  killed  by  them,  and  they  remain  peace 
able  and  friendly.  In  this  same  meeting  they  wished  to  know  if  Mr. 
Spalding  could  come  back  as  their  teacher.  We  inquired  particularly 
how  many  of  them  wished  him  to  come  back,  and  found  that  a  majority 
of  the  tribe  were  in  favor  of  his  return.  He  went  back  as  their  teacher; 
but  we  have  since  learned  that  such  influences  were  brought  to  bear  upon 
him,  as  made  him  feel  that  he  was  compelled  to  leave  the  tribe.  The 
mission  right  of  the  property,  as  we  are  fully  assured,  has  since  fallen 
into  Jesuit  hands,  for  the  paltry  sum  of  $500  in  greenbacks.  Who  is 
responsible  for  the  giving  up  of  that  mission,  we  are  unable  to  say.  No 
money  consideration  should  ever  have  induced  the  American  Board  of 
Missions  to  relinquish  their  legitimate  claim. 

We  have  not  recently  been  permitted  to  visit  the  Indians  at  Rev. 
Messrs.  Walker,  and  Eells'  station  ;  but  we  have  the  testimony  of  others 
in  regard  to  the  good  effect  of  the  teachings  of  their  missionaries  upon 


THE   WHITMAN  INSTITUTE.  601 

them.  Major  P.  Lugenbeel,  who  was  in  command  of  New  Fort  Col- 
ville  for  years,  and  also  acted  as  Indian  agent,  said  to  Mr.  Eells  in  1861, 
"Those  Indians  of  yours  are  the  best  I  ever  saw.  I  wish  you  would  go 
back  and  resume  missionary  labor  among  them." 

Mr.  Eells  says,  in  the  Missionary  Herald,  December,  1866  : — 

"  Some  fifteen  or  twenty  of  these  Indians  spent  a  portion  of  last 
winter  in  Wallawalla.  On  the  Sabbath  a  larger  proportion  of  them 
than  of  the  citizens  of  the  place  could  be  collected  in  a  house  of  worship. 
I  met  them  as  my  class  in  connection  with  the  Sabbath  school  in  the 
Congregational  Church.  As  we  were  allowed  our  share  of  the  time 
allotted  to  singing,  we  sang,  in  their  tongue,  the  words  which  I  arranged 
for  them  more  than  twenty-five  years  ago.  So  far  as  I  have  learned, 
their  conduct  in  transactions  with  whites  has  been  less  objectionable 
than  that  of  the  superior  race." 

We  have  frequently  met  individual  Indians  from  about  all  those 
early  stations,  and  found  a  most  cordial  greeting  from  them,  and  always 
a  regret  that  they  have  lost  their  Boston  teachers. 

We  have  always  regretted  the  course  pursued  by  the  American  Board, 
in  allowing  tht>se  missions  to  be  given  up,  as  unwise  and  injudicious.  If 
the  men  who  first  commenced  them  had  not  the  courage  to  return  and 
continue  their  labors,  others  should  have  been  sent  to  take  their  places. 

The  Whitman  Institute  has  come  up  from  the  ashes  of  that  noble  and 
devoted  martyred  missionary,  which  to  the  winter  looks  like  u  white 
washing  the  sepulchers  of  the  prophets  "  whose  death  we  have  seemed 
to  approve,  by  our  silence  (not  to  say  cowardice)  in  not  ferreting  out 
and  exposing  the  authors  of  that  crime. 

Mr.  Spalding  has  not  been  sustained  in  his  recent  efforts  among  the 
Nez  Perces,  but  feels  that  he  has  been  driven  away  from  among  his 
Indian  brethren  and  disciples  by  Jesuit  influence. 

The  cowardly,  timid,  hesitating,  the  half-God  and  half-mammon 
Christian  may  say,  What  will  you  have  us  do  ?  We  answer,  Maintain 
the  natural  rights  of  men  and  Christians,  and  leave  consequences  to  a 
higher  power. 

We  have  thus  briefly  summed  up  the  labors  of  the  Protestant  and 
Roman  missions,  and  shown  the  influence  of  each  upon  the  Indians  on 
the  western  portion  of  our  American  continent.  In  further  proof  that 
this  Roman  Jesuit  influence  tends  only  to  the  destruction  of  the  Indian 
race,  I  might  refer  to  California,  Mexico,  and  other  countries  where 
they  have  had  the  exclusive  religious  teaching  of  the  people  ;  the  result 
is  the  same. 

We  know  from  long  experience  that  it  has  always  been  the  policy  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  place  an  opposing  post  or  trader  by  the 


$02  HISTORY  OF  OREGOX. 

side  of  an  opponent  in  the  fur  trade.  The  same  policy  was  adopted, 
and  carried  out  by  the  Jesuits  in  regard  to  the  Protestant  missions  in 
American  territory.  We  will  be  told  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
people  were  principally  of  the  English  Episcopal  Church.  This  is  true, 
and  they,  to  satisfy  the  Christian  sentiment  of  the  English  people, 
brought  an  Episcopal  minister  to  Vancouver,  and  allowed  a  few  in  the 
vicinity  of  Moose  Factory,  whe^they  wished  to  renew  their  fur  license, 
but  dismissed  them  as  soon  as  possible  after  their  object  was  accom 
plished,  for  reasons  already  stated,  and  introduced  these  Jesuit  mis 
sionaries  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  facilitate  their  trade  among 
the  Indians,  and  destroy  the  American  influence  in  the  country.  But, 
thank  God  and  the  energy  of  a  free  people,  the  country,  with  all  its 
untold  wealth  and  prospective  grandeur,  is  ours,  arid  to-day,  as  we 
hear  the  lightning  tap  of  intelligence,  from  the  Old  World  to  Oregon, 
we  have  not  one  solitary  regret  that  thirty  of  the  best  and  most  active 
years  of  our  life  have  been  spent,  in  contending  publicly  and  privately, 
by  day  and  by  night,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  against  that  influ 
ence.  We  know  what  it  is  to  feel  its  power,  as  an  assistant  mission 
ary,  as  a  settler,  as  a  representative  and  as  an  officer  of  the  provisional, 
Territorial,  and  State  governments.  We  have  no  complaint  of  per 
sonal  unkindness  to  us,  or  ours ;  but  we  feel  that  the  withering  con 
demnation  of  every  true  American,  and  Englishman  too,  should  rest 
upon  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  while  that  name  is  claimed  by  any 
association  of  men,  for  the  unrighteous  course  they  have  been,  and  still 
are,  pursuing. 

It  is  obvious  that  to  the  American  missionaries  our  nation  owes  an 
honorable  record,  and  the  names  of  Dr.  Whitman,  Rev.  J.  Lee,  Mr. 
C.  Shepard,  Mr.  C.  Rogers,  Rev.  Harvey  Clark,  Mr.  A.  Beers,  and  Dr. 
Wilson,  and  Mrs.  Whitman,  Mrs.  Spalding,  Mrs.  Lee,  Mrs.  Leslie,  Mrs. 
Beers,  and  Mrs.  Smith,  among  the  dead,  and  many  others  still  living, 
should  find  a  prominent  place  in  the  catalogue  of  noble  men  and  women 
who  not  only  volunteered  to  civilize  and  Christianize  the  Indians,  but 
did  actually  save  this  western  golden  coast,  to  honor  and  enrich  the  great 
Republic  in  the  time  of  her  greatest  peril. 

It  would  be  ungenerous  to  confine  the  answer  to  our  question  alone 
to  the  good  that  the  early  American  missionaries  did  to  the  Indians  of 
our  western  coast.  The  whole  country,  now  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  United  States,  is  more  indebted  to  them  than  most  men  are  willing 
to  admit. 

The  country,  as  all  are  aware,  was  first  occupied  by  Astor's  Company 
in  1811,  followed  by  the  Northwest  Company  in  1813,  and  by  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  1821.  For  twenty-three  years  the  British 


MISSIONARY  IMPROVEMENTS.  603 

Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  scarcely  disturbed  by  an  American.  No 
effort  was  made  by  it  to  comply  with  the  conditions  of  its  charter,  in 
regard  to  the  civil  and  religious  instruction  of  the  Indians,  supposing 
that  charter  to  have  been  valid. 

In  1832,  the  Indians  themselves  asked  for  the  American  missionary. 
They  had  previously  asked  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  for  religious 
teachers,  but  they  only  allowed  a  few  Indian  boys  to  go  to  Red 
River,  there  to  receive  a  very  limited  English  education,  and  return 
to  be  employed  by  the  company  as  interpreters  or  traders.  This  did 
not  satisfy  the  Indian  longing  for  light  and  knowledge.  The  tribes  in 
middle  Oregon  resorted  to  the  American  rendezvous,  and,  although 
there  was  little  or  no  moral  influence  there,  they  discovered  a  more 
liberal  and  generous  spirit  among  the  Americans  than  among  the  Eng 
lish  or  French.  This  led  to  further  inquiry  as  to  the  cause,  and  by  some 
means  they  concluded  that  it  must  arise  from  their  religious  notions 
or  worship.  They  asked  to  see  the  Americans'  sacred  book,  about 
which  they  had  heard,  as  it  was  said  that  book  told  about  the  Great 
Spirit  above.  For  a  time  they  received  packs  of  cards,  but  were  not 
satisfied, — there  must  be  something  more.  They  sent  some  of  their 
number  to  St.  Louis,  and  as  has  been  before  stated,  Mr.  Catlin  learned 
their  object,  and  gave  the  information  that  started  the  missions. 

While  the  American  missionaries  were  going  to  the  country,  the 
American  fur  traders  were  being  driven  from  it.  Rev.  Jason  Lee  and 
associate  were  allowed  to  locate  in  the  Wallamet  Valley.  He  labored, 
and  measurably  filled,  gratuitously,  the  chartered  stipulations  of  the 
company. 

As  there  were  no  women  in  this  first  missionary  party,  no  fears  were 
excited  as  to  the  supremacy  of  the  soil,  or  the  future  occupation  of  the 
country  by  the  company's  retired  servants. 

In  1836,  Dr.  Whitman  and  Mr.  Spalding  and  their  wives  arrived, 
with  cattle  and  other  material  for  a  distinct  and  independent  mission. 
They  at  once  commenced  their  labors,  and  sent  for  assistance  by  the 
overland  route.  Rev..  Mr.  Lee  received  a  re-enforcement  by  sea,  with 
which  came  a  wife  for  himself  and  Mr.  Shepard.  Dr.  Whitman  and 
Mr.  Spalding's  associates  arrived  overland ;  more  cattle  were  brought 
across  the  mountains,  and,  through  the  exertions  and  means  of 
Mr.  Lee  and  his  associates,  cattle  were  brought  through  from 
California. 

Schools  and  farms  were  opened ;  mills,  houses,  and  churches  built ; 
and  more  and  better  improvements  made  by  the  missionaries,  than 
were  then  owned  by  the  company,  with  the  single  exception  of  a  farm 
at  Vancouver. 


(504:  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

The  American  missionaries  did  not  stop  with  the  mills  and  farms, 
nor  with  cattle  and  swine.  Sheep  and  a  printing-press  were  brought 
from  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  soon  the  Indian  beholds  the  clean  white 
paper  made  into  a  book,  and  his  own  thoughts  and  words  placed  before 
him,  and  he  is  taught  to  read  for  himself.  In  the  Wallamet  Valley  an 
extensive  building  for  an  Indian  boarding-school  was  erected,  arid  one 
for  whites  and  half-breed  children,  almost  entirely  by  the  American 
missionaries.  A  second  school  was  started  by  the  Rev.  Harvey  Clark 
and  his  friends  at  Forest  Grove,  which  is  now  Pacific  University. 
There  were  also  private  schools  and  churches  all  through  the  settlements, 
mostly  under  the  Methodist  influence ;  while  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany,  with  their  priests,  established  three  schools, — one  for  boys  at 
Vancouver,  one  for  girls  at  Oregon  City,  and  one  at  French  Prairie. 
These  last  institutions  were  particularly  an  opposition  to  the  American 
schools. 

The  improvements  spoken  of  above  were  accomplished  within  twelve 
years  from  the  first  arriral  of  the  American  missionaries.  This  laid 
the  foundation  for  education  and  civilization,  upon  which  the  country 
has  been  steadily  advancing.  While  the  Legislative  Assemblies  refused 
to  take  action  on  the  subject  of  education,  the  missionary  influence  was 
active,  and  strongly  in  favor  of  sectarian  schools. 

In  the  Legislature  of  1845,  an  ineffectual  effort  was  made  to  establish 
a  common-school  system  for  the  country.  In  1846,  Mr.  T.  Vault,  from 
the  committee  on  education,  made  a  report  recommending  a  memorial  to 
Congress  on  the  subject  of  education.  This  is  all  that  was  done  that  year. 
In  1847-8,  the  Cayuse  war,  the  liquor  question,  and  the  gold  mines  ex 
citement,  seem  to  have  absorbed  the  whole  attention  of  the  Legisla 
ture  ;  hence  the  subject  of  education  was  left  to  the  direction  and  influ 
ence  of  the  religious  sects  and  individual  effort,  until  the  Territorial 
organization  in  1849,  in  which  we  find  a  very  imperfect  school  law;  and 
the  one  at  the  present  day,  1870,  is  no  honor  to  our  State.  This,  how 
ever,  is  wholly  due  to  the  influence  of  the  various  sects,  each  seeking  to 
build  up  its  own  peculiar  sectarian  schools,  thus  dividing  the  whole 
educational  interests  of  the  country  to  promote  sectarian  education. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  our  next  Legislature  will  adopt  a  system  that 
will  at  once  lay  aside  all  sects,  and  place  the  education  of  our  youth 
upon  a  national,  instead  of  a  sectarian  basis,  honorable  alike  to  the 
State  and  nation.  With  all  due  credit  and  honor  to  all  previous  mis 
sionary  and  sectarian  efforts,  we  say,  give  us  a  national  standard  of 
education  that  shall  qualify  our  youth  to  become  the  honored  sover 
eigns  of  a  free,  intelligent,  industrious,  virtuous,  and  forever  united 
nation. 


DR.  WHITMAN'S   EFFORTS  REVIEWED.  $05 

"We  have  occupied  much  more  space  than  we  would,  in  giving  quota 
tions,  knowing,  as  we  do,  the  ignorance  there  is  in  relation  to  our 
early  history,  and  the  efforts  of  the  British  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and 
Roman  Church  to  secure  the  exclusive  control  of  Oregon.  We  will 
here  give  an  article  which  we  find  in  the  Missionary  Herald.  The 
writer  says: — 

"  While  it  is  apparent  from  the  letters  of  Dr.  Whitman  at  the 
missionary  house,  that,  in  visiting  the  Eastern  States  in  1842-3,  he  had 
certain  missionary  objects  in  view,  it  is  no  less  clear  that  he  would  not 
have  come  at  that  time,  and  probably  he  would  not  have  come  at  all 
[which  we  know  to  be  the  case],  had  it  not  been  for  his  desire  to  save 
the  disputed  territory  to  the  United  States.  It  was  not  simply  an 
American  question,  however, — it  was  at  the  same  time  a  Protestant 
question.  He  was  fully  alive  to  the  efforts  which  the  Roman  Catholics 
were  making  to  gain  the  mastery  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  he  was 
firmly  persuaded  that  they  were  working  In  the  Interest  of  the  Hudsorfs 
Bay  Company*  with  a  view  to  this  very  end.  The  danger  from  this 
quarter  had  made  a  profound  impression  upon  his  mind.  Under  date 
of  April  1,  1847,  he  said  :  'In  the  autumn  of  1842-3,  I  pointed  out  to 
our  mission  the  arrangements  of  the  Papists  to  settle  in  our  vicinity, 
and  that  it  only  required  that  those  arrangements  should  be  completed 
to  close  our  operations.'  " 

To  the  statement  of  Dr.  Whitman  as  here  quoted  from  his  letter  to 
the  Board,  we  can  bear  positive  testimony.  He  did  point  out  to  his 
associates  all  the  dangers  to  which  they  were  exposed. 

"  Dr.  Whitman  evidently  regarded  his  visit  to  Washington,  and  his 
success  in  conducting  the  immigrants  of  1843  [eight  hundred  and 
seventy-five  souls]  across  the  Rocky  and  Blue  mountains,  as  settling 
the  destiny  of  Oregon.  In  the  letter  just  referred  to,  he  said,  'It  may 
be  easily  seen  what  would  have  become  of  American  interests  in  this 
country,  had  the  immigration  of  1843  been  as  disastrous  as  were  the 
immigrations  of  1845  and  1846.'  [In  both  those  years  the  route  which 
he  had  selected  was  abandoned  for  another.]  In  confirmation  of  this 
opinion,  we  find  a  writer  in  the  Colonial  Magazine  using  this  lan 
guage  :— 

"'By  a  strange  and  unpardonable  oversight  of  the  local  officers, 
missionaries  from  the  United  States  icere  allowed  to  take  religious 
charge  of  the  population ;  and  these  artful  men  lost  no  time  in  intro 
ducing  such  a  number  of  their  countrymen  as  reduced  the  influence  of 
the  British  settlers  to  complete  insignificance.' " 

The  above  quotation  from  the  Colonial  Magazine  is  but  a  repetition 
of  evidence  already  given  from  other  English  testimony,  relative  to 


606  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

their  determination  to  hold  the  country.  We  also  have  the  expecta 
tion  of  Chief-Factor  A.  McDonald,  as  expressed  in  1842  to  Rev.  C. 
Eells:  "He  also  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  if  England  should  obtain 
the  desired  portion  of  Oregon,  it  would  be  made  over  to  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company."  He  thought  that  fifty  years  from  that  time,  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company's  descendants  would  be  the  only  occupants  of  the 
country.  Dr.  Whitman,  in  expressing  an  opinion  upon  the  same  subject, 
thought  that  fifty  years  from  that  time  they  would  not  be  found. 

In  the  closing  remarks  of  the  article  from  which  we  have  quoted  the 
above,  there  is  a  strange  mixture  of  truth  and  ignorance.  The  writer  says  : 
"  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  perhaps,  that  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Whitman  lost 
their  lives  in  consequence  of  the  success  of  the  endeavors  already 
described.  The  immigrants  of  1847  carried  diseases  into  the  Indian  coun 
try,  which  proved  very  fatal  to  the  aborigines.  Some  becam6  suspicious 
of  him  ;  some  were  exasperated  ;  and  a  few  affirmed  that  he  was  poison 
ing  them  with  his  medicines,  to  get  them  out  of  the  way.  It  is  believed 
by  many,  moreover,  that  the  Roman  Catholics  were  in  a  measure 
responsible  as  directly  or  indirectly,  for  the  catastrophe  of  Wailatpu. 
But  it  is  inexpedient  to  discuss  this  question  at  the  present  time." 

It  is  evident  from  this  last  quotation,  that  Sir  James  Douglas's  letter 
for  the  information  of  the  Board  of  Missions  produced  its  desired  effect ; 
and  it  is  only  from  the  recent  statements  respecting  that  transaction, 
that  the  Board  have  allowed  the  subject  to  come  before  them ;  they 
have  asked  and  received  from  the  most  cautious  missionary  they  have 
ever  sent  to  the  country,  a  statement  of  the  facts  in  the  case.  He  has 
complied  with  their  request,  and  the  result  is  a  repetition  of  the  slander 
of  the  murdered  dead.  We  are  unwilling  to  believe  that  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Treat,  D.  D.,  in  this  closing  paragraph,  intended  to  give  the  impression 
that  he  believed  the  statement ;  yet  we  can  not  understand  his  object 
in  reporting  the  statement  made  to  blast  the  character  of  a  good  man, 
and  to  shield  his  murderers  from  the  punishment  due  to  their  crime  ; 
leaving  the  impression  upon  the  mind,  that  it  was  the  Indian  supersti 
tions  alone  that  were  the  cause  of  the  massacre.  Those  who  have  read 
the  foregoing  pages  will  not  be  deceived  as  to  those  causes.  Mr.  Treat 
should  have  given  us  the  benefit  of  his  authority  for  that  statement,  as 
we  are  assured  by  the  Indians  themselves  that  there  is  not  one  of  them 
that  ever  believed  those  reports  till  they  were  affirmed  by  the  priests, 
and  even  then  they  doubted.  We  have  been  several  times  among  the 
Indians  of  that  tribe,  and  were  present  at  the  first  consultation  held 
with  them  by  Indian  Agent  R.  R.  Thompson  in  1853,  and  took  partic 
ular  pains  to  inquire  as  to  their  belief  in  that  matter.  I  could  not  find 
one,  even  among  the  Roman  Catholic  Indians,  that  would  say  he 


THE   SCAPE-GOAT   OF  THE  WHITMAN   MASSACRE.  (J07 

believed  that  Dr.  Whitman  did  as  he  is  represented  by  the  priests  and 
the  company  to  have  done.  The  Indians  invariably  told  me  that  the 
priests,  Firilay,  Stanfield,  Joe  Lewis,  or  Mr.  McBean  said  so,  but  they 
believed  Dr.  Whitman  was  their  friend,  and  their  hearts  had  wept  and 
cried  because  they  had  consented  to  his  being  killed. 

It  was  to  develop  the  facts  and  influences  operating  in  our  early 
history  that  we  commenced  to  write.  It  does  not  matter  to  us 
whence  a  statement  comes  or  by  whom  it  is  made,  if  it  does  not  cor 
respond  with  the  facts  in  the  case,  we  intend  to  give  what  we  conceive 
and  firmly  believe  to  be  the  truth  ;  letting  such  as  are  ignorant  of  the 
facts,  or  have  been  deceived  by  commercial,  religious,  or  sectarian  state 
ments,  judge  as  to  the  correctness  or  truth  of  our  conclusions. 

A  great  crime  has  been  committed  in  our  land; — a  poor,  ignorant,  and 
harmless  and  comparatively  innocent  people,  have  been  charged  with 
committing  it  through  "superstitious  prejudices"  which,  if  the  very  men 
who  make  the  charge  are  to  be  believed,  fixes  the  crimes  upon  their  own 
heads,  for  they  tell  us  that  they  were  unharmed  amid  the  scenes  of 
blood  and  murder,  while  gathering  up  the  remains  of  the  first  mission 
ary  victims  and  consigning  them  to  a  common  grave.  Their  messen 
gers  pass  and  repass  all  through  the  country,  and  mingle  freely,  and 
"  rejoice  "  that  the  ignorant  murderers  will  come  to  them  for  advice, 
which  is  cheerfully  given,  and  a  pledge  made  to  assist  them  to  avoid 
its  consequences ;  while  the  commercial  party  in  this  great  crime  is 
handing  over  to  the  murderers  munitions  for  defense,  and  to  continue 
the  slaughter  of  American  settlers,  the  Jesuitical  party  is  confirming 
the  doubtful  mind  of  the  Indians  in  the  justness  of  the  crime  they  have 
committed.  Such  were  the  parties  seeking  to  control  our  destiny  from 
1834  to  1849,  and  such  as  we  have  quoted  are  the  sentiments  of  men 
high  in  giving  direction  to  truth  and  righteousness  in  a  great  nation 
in  1866-7. 

We  feel,  and  admit,  that  our  task  has  been  most  difficult  and  ardu 
ous, — to  seek  out  and  bring  to  light  the  truth  in  relation  to  events  so 
momentous,  and  consequences  so  important  to  the  interests  of  this 
western  part  of  our  continent.  It  would  be  far  more  gratifying  to  us 
to  dwell  upon  the  pleasing  and  happy  influences  and  incidents  that 
float  upon  the  surface  of  society;  but  these  are  commonplace  and  the 
natural  growth  of  circumstances,  such  as  the  most  careless  could 
scarcely  fail  to  observe. 

Oregon  was  ours  by  right  of  discovery,  exploration,  and  cession ;  as 
well  as  settlement  by  Astor  in  1811-12.  A  foreign  monopoly,  having 
knowledge  of  the  American  Fur  Company's  weakness  and  danger,  paid 
a  nominal  price  for  its  goods  and  possessions,  and  has  held  and 


608  HISTORY  OP  OREGON. 

robbed  the  country,  as  by  its  own  statements,  of  twenty  million 
pounds  sterling,  in  profits.  As  we  have  before  stated,  that  company 
dared  not  use  the  same  instruments  at  first,  to  drive  out  or  destroy  the 
missionaries,  that  it  had  used  against  fur  traders  and  hunters.  The 
Indians  regarded  the  American  missionaries  as  teachers  sent  from  God, 
and  received  them,  and  protected  them,  till  forced  by  the  teachings 
and  influence  of  their  masters  to  attempt  to  cut  off  the  American 
settlement. 

The  English  people,  as  a  whole,  charge  the  American  missionaries, 
and  justly i  with  being  the  means  of  their  losing  Oregon.  They  also 
charge  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  wrongfully,  as  favoring  the  Ameri 
can  settlement  of  the  country.  Dr.  John  McLaughlin,  all  honor  to  his 
name  and  memory,  told  his  superiors  in  London  the  truth,  when  he  said 
to  them,  "Gentlemen,  as  a  man  of  common  humanity,  I  could  not  do 
otherwise  than  to  give  those  naked  and  starving  people  to  wear  and  to 
eat  of  our  stores.  They  were  not  our  enemies.  I  did  what  I  thought 
was  right,  and  must  leave  consequences  to  God  and  the  government, 
and  if  you  insist  upon  my  compliance  with  your  rules  in  this  particular, 
I  will  serve  you  no  longer" 

Contrast  this  noble  sentiment  of  Dr.  McLaughlin,  though  a  Canadian- 
born  subject  and  supporter  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  in  the  country, 
with  that  of  his  successor,  Sir  James  Douglas,  who  refused  supplies  to 
punish  the  murderers  and  protect  the  American  settlements,  he  having 
been  an  officer  under  the  provisional  government,  and  taken  an  oath  to 
protect  and  defend  it. 

Did  it  conflict  with  his  duties  as  a  British  subject?  The  reason  as 
signed  by  him  for  his  refusal  was,  "the  stringent  rules  laid  down  for  his 
government  by  the  home  company"  which  the  noble  old  Canadian  said 
he  would  resign  his  position  sooner  than  obey. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  see  that  Oregon,  during  the  existence  of  the  pro 
visional  government,  was  a  country  possessing  peculiarly  interesting 
relations  to  the  two  nations  who  were  claiming  its  allegiance  and  sov 
ereignty.  Had  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  been  true  to  its  own 
country,  and  encouraged  the  settlement  of  loyal  British  subjects  in  it, 
there  is  no  question  but,  with  the  facilities  and  capital  at  its  command, 
it  could  have  secured  the  country  before  an  American  settlement 
could  have  acquired  any  strength  in  it.  The  same  was  the  case  with 
California.  One  or  two  ships  a  year  from  1835  to  1840,  or  even  1846, 
leaving  ouj  the  Roman  and  Jesuit  missionaries,  could  have  brought 
substantial  English  families  with  their  English  chaplains,  and  formed 
their  colonies  and  absorbed  the  American  missionary  settlements  in  it, 
and  no  one  would  have  questioned  their  right,  or  attempted  to 


BLINDNESS  OF  THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY. 

defeat  them;  but  the  £7,000  or  more  of  clear  profits  in  the  fur  trade, 
and  native  associations,  were  too  strong.  The  country  becomes  valuable 
in  its  estimation,  as  others  have  improved  and  developed  its  wealth. 
The  natives  with  the  furs  of  the  country  were  the  only  source  of  wealth 
to  it,  and  especially  to  the  home  company  in  London.  If  the  least 
possible  credit  is  due  to  it  from  any  source,  it  is  for  its  stupidity 
and  ignorance  as  to  the  real  value  of  the  country,  of  which  no  one  can 
give  a  true  history  without  developing  the  avaricious  character  and 
degrading  influences  and  proceedings  of  that  company;  for  it  had, 
as  we  remarked  at  the  commencement  of  our  history,  and  as  every  one 
knows,  the  absolute  control  of  it  up  to  the  organization  of  the  pro 
visional  government  in  1843.  Those  influences  were  active  and  in  full 
operation  up  to  1842,  when  it  was  discovered,  by  Dr.  Whitman  and  a 
few  others,  that  the  whole  country  was  about  to  pass  into  the  hands  of 
the  English,  as  was  asserted  by  the  over-zealous  priest  at  Wallawalla : 
"  The  country  is  ours  !  America  is  too  late  !  They  may  now  whistle" 
An  American  heard,  and  to  hear  with  him  was  to  act.  "  If  the  Board 
dismisses  me,  I  will  do  what  lean  to  save  Oregon  to  my  country"  was  his 
remark  to  us,  as  he  gave  his  hand  and  mounted  his  horse,  to  see  what 
could  be  done  at  Washington.  The  result  of  that  trip  was  the  delay 
of  the  boundary  question  and  an  immigration  and  settlement,  that  no 
Hudson's  Bay  and  Jesuit  exterminating  combinations  have  been  able  to 
overcome  or  drive  from  the  country. 
39 


CHAPTER  LXV. 

Description  of  the  face  of  the  country. — Agricultural  and  mining  productions. — Timber. 
— The  Wallamet. — Columbia. — Dalles. — Upper  Columbia. — Mountains. — Rivers. — 
Mineral  wealth. — Climate. — The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad. — Conclusion. 

THUS  far  I  have  confined  myself  to  the  history  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  the  early  settlement  of  the  country,  its  public  men,  the  pro 
visional  government,  adverse  influence,  and  the  American  and  Jesuit 
missions.  We  will  now  proceed  to  describe  its  geographical  and 
physical  position  and  value. 

Previous  to  the  treaty  of  1846,  all  that  portion  of  country  lying  south 
of  the  Russian  possessions,  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  north  of 
California,  was  called  Oregon.  By  that  treaty  the  49th  parallel  was 
constituted  the  boundary  line  between  the  United  States  and  the 
British  possessions. 

In  the  act  of  Congress  passed  August  14,  1848,  the  boundaries  were 
thus  defined :  "  All  that  part  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  which 
lies  west  of  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  north  of  the  42d  de 
gree  of  north  latitude,  known  as  the  Territory  of  Oregon,  shall  be  or 
ganized  into,  and  constitute  a  temporary  government,  by  the  name  of 
The  Territory  of  Oregon."  Unfortunately,  though  our  national  Con 
gress  contained  many  noble,  intelligent,  and  talented  men,  none  of  them 
knew  any  thing  about  the  country  they  were  defining  as  Oregon  Ter 
ritory. 

Thomas  II.  Benton,  about  this  time,  made  his  famous  Oregon  speech. 
In  it  he  declared  that  all  north  of  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude  was  only 
fit  for  the  poorest  and  most  meager  animal  existence ;  that  it  was  the 
"derelict  of  all  nations,"  not  fit  for  the  subsistence  of  civilized  man. 

This  impression  of  Mr.  Benton  was  received  from  high  British — and 
no  doubt  he  thought  the  most  correct  and  reliable — authority.  In  fact, 
in  the  mind  of  this,  and  many  other  of  our  statesmen,  the  entire  terri 
tory  was  of  but  little  value.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  whence  this 
impression  arose,  and  for  what  purpose  it  was  so  persistently  kept  before 
the  minds  of  our  most  eminent  statesmen.  The  immense  fur  trade  of 
the  country,  carried  on  at  a  nominal  expense,  was  too  profitable  to  allow 
the  truth  to  be  told,  or  an  experiment  to  be  made,  to  show  the  value 
of  the  soil,  or  the  amount  or  variety  of  its  productions.  The  soil,  like 


AGRICULTURAL  RESOURCES. 

the  furs  and  the  natives,  must  be  misrepresented,  neglected,  and  slan 
dered,  that  it  may  yield  its  silent  income  to  avarice  and  idleness. 

The  American  missionary  arrives  in  the  country,  and  is  assured  by 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  that  but  a  very  small  portion  of  the  country 
is  susceptible  of  cultivation  ;  that  no  extensive  settlements  can  ever  be 
formed  in  it.  These  statements  are  made  by  men  who  have  spent  their 
lives  in  the  country,  and  say  they  have  tested  the  qualities  of  the  soil 
faithfully,  and  found  it  to  be  unproductive.  The  missionaries  partially 
believe  these  statements,  and  communicate  to  their  friends  in  the  east 
their  doubts  as  to  the  extent  and  richness  of  the  arable  land  in  the 
country.  In  the  mean  time  they  must  provide  for  their  own  subsistence. 
The  Missionary  Boards  that  sent  them,  out  are  not  able  to  pay  the  prices 
demanded  for  a  continual  supply  of  such  food  as  can  be  raised  in  the 
country.  This  they  knew  and  were  prepared  for  it,  and  at  once  com 
menced  to  experiment  upon  the  soil  for  themselves.  Their  first  effort 
astonishes  and  delights  them.  Instead  of  a  hard,  barren,  unproductive 
soil,  as  they  had  been  told,  it  proves  to  be  a  light  rich  clay  loam  all 
through  the  Wallamet  Valley,  and  in  the  interior,  a  dark,  mellow,  inex 
haustible  alkali  soil,  of  the  richest  kind,  and,  when  properly  cultivated, 
very  productive. 

The  missionary  experiments  are  continued  and  extended.  They 
soon  begin  to  send  glowing  accounts  to  their  friends  of  the  richness  of 
the  valleys  of  Oregon — eight  hundred  bushels  of  potatoes,  or  from  thirty 
to  sixty  bushels  of  wheat,  to  the  acre.  The  American  trappers  and 
hunters  gather  into  the  Wallamet  Valley,  around  the  Methodist  Mission. 
The  Canadian-French,  British  subjects,  who  have  become  worn  out  and 
unprofitable  to  the  company,  are  permitted  to  locate  in  the  same  valley, 
but,  with  the  clumsy  and  imperfect  farming  implements  furnished  them, 
and  their  ignorance  of  farming,  they  were  not  able  to  accomplish  much, 
and  are  still  referred  to,  as  proof  of  the  worthlessness  of  the  country. 

The  American  settler  comes  in,  and  proves  the  truth  of  the  mission 
aries'  large  farming  stories,  and  finds  that  he  can  do,  with  two  yoke  of 
oxen,  what  it  required  six  to  do  in  the  Mississippi  Valley — his  labor 
producing  double  pay.  He  is  more  than  satisfied — he  is  delighted — with 
the  soil,  the  climate,  and  country,  and  reports  his  success  to  his  friends. 

By  this  time  a  few  peaches  and  apples  have  been  produced  outside 
the  inclosures  and  garden  of  Fort  Vancouver,  which  convinces  the 
American  settler  that  fruit  can  be  produced  in  Oregon ;  and  soon  we 
find  every  known  variety  to  be  profitably  cultivated. 

Timber. — The  fir,  spruce,  and  hemlock  are  superabundant,  all  along 
the  coast  range,  from  California  to  Puget  Sound.  The  fir,  pine,  oak, 
ash,  and  maple  are  abundant  in  the  valleys  of  the  Wallamet  and  Cow- 


612  HISTORY  OF  OREGON". 

litz,  and  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Cascade  range  of  mountains  ;  there 
is  also  an  abundance  of  pine,  fir,  oak,  and  maple  on  the  eastern  slope. 

The  Wallamet  Valley  is  from  forty  to  sixty  miles  wide,  and  one 
hundred  and  eighty  long.  It  has  less  timber  land  than  fine  level 
prairie  ;  through  which  winds  with  its  tributaries  the  beautiful  Walla- 
met,  skirted  all  along  its  banks  and  level  bottoms  with  cotton-wood, 
ash,  alder,  oak,  fir,  yellow  pine,  yew,  and  soft  maple,  with  a  small 
amount  of  cedar.  This  river  has  its  source  in  the  Umpqua  Mountains ; 
and  its  tributaries  in  the  Coast  and  Cascade  ranges, — the  main  river 
running  north,  or  west  of  north,  till  it  joins  the  majestic  Columbia. 
Its  meandering  streams,  and  valleys  composed  mainly  of  prairie  inter 
spersed  with  groves  of  oak,  pine,  fir,  and  cotton-wood,  make  up  a  scenery 
which  for  beauty  and  loveliness  can  not  be  surpassed.  The  Cascade 
range  on  the  east  is  dotted,  at  intervals  of  from  a  hundred  to  a  hun 
dred  and  fifty  miles  apart,  with  towering,  snow-capped  mountains  from 
15,000  to  18,600  feet  high,  and  is  cut  at  right  angles,  midway  between 
the  California  Mountains  on  the  south,  and  Mount  Baker  on  the 
north,  by  the  great  river  of  Oregon,  the  noble  Columbia,  which  forces 
its  resistless  current  over  its  rocky  bed,  till  it  finds  its  way  to  the 
ocean. 

Ascending  this  river  from  the  ocean,  for  sixty  miles,  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Cowlitz,  we  find  it  lined  on  either  bank  with  lofty  and  dense  forests 
of  spruce,  hemlock,  cedar,  and  fir,  with  scarcely  a  sign  of  prairie  ;  from 
this  up,  the  timber  is  interspersed  with  prairie,  till  we  enter  the  Cas 
cade  Mountains,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  from  the  ocean,  and 
ten  below  the  Cascade  portage,  which  is  five  miles  long, — now  made 
by  railroad  ;  thence  to  the  Dalles  is  thirty-eight  miles,  making  fifty 
miles  of  the  roughest  and  grandest  river  and  mountain  scenery  on  our 
continent. 

Old  ocean  in  its  mightiest  heavings  is  but  a  placid  lake,  when  com 
pared  with  this  fifty-five  miles  of  mountain  roughness,  grandeur,  and 
sublimity,  from  various  points  of  which  may  be  seen  Mounts  Baker, 
Rainier,  St.  Helens,  Adams,  Hood,  and  Jefferson,  with  others  of 
less  note,  all  raising  their  lofty  heads  above  the  regions  of  perpetual 
snow. 

Prominent  among  them  stands  Mount  Hood,  about  thirty  miles  south 
of  the  Columbia,  towering  to  the  height  of  18,600  feet,  with  his  ever 
lasting  white  cap  on,  and  overlooking  the  lovely  valleys  of  the  Walla- 
met  to  the  south  and  west ;  the  Columbia  and  Cowlitz  to  the  west  and 
north  ;  and  the  great  upper  basin  of  the  Columbia  to  the  northeast, 
east,  and  southeast.  From  the  Dalles  we  ascend  this  mighty  river 
fourteen  miles  by  rail,  where  the  water  has  worn  its  crooked  course 


RIVERS  AND   MOUNTAINS.  (J13 

amid  solid  basaltic  rocks  to  unknown  depths,  not  exceeding  a  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  in  width,  causing  the  river,  in  discharging  its  annual 
floods,  to  rise  at  this  point  over  eighty  feet  in  perpendicular  height. 

At  the  end  of  the  railroad  the  steamboat  receives  the  traveler,  when, 
as  he  ascends  the  river,  the  land  on  either  side  diminishes  in  height,  till 
he  reaches  Castle  Rock,  seventy-one  miles  above  the  Dalles.  This  is  a 
lone  pile  of  basaltic  rocks  having  the  appearance  of  an  old  castle  in  the 
midst  of  a  great  plain  to  the  east,  south,  and  west  of  it. 

A  large  portion  of  this  plain,  lying  along  the  river,  is  of  course  gravel 
and  sand,  dry,  and  comparatively  barren  ;  yet  producing  the  arteniisia, 
sage,  and  a  luxurious  growth  of  wild  mustard  in  the  early  spring ;  with 
but  little  grass,  and  abundance  of  the  low  sunflower. 

The  lands  back  from  the  river  are  high  rolling  prairie,  covered  with 
rich  bunch  grass,  having  a  light  soil  composed  of  pulverized  basaltic 
sandstone. 

This  soil,  to  the  eye  of  the  careless  observer,  though  it  is  thickly  set 
with  the  bunch  grass,  generally  appears  barren  and  worthless ;  yet,  with 
irrigation,  or  with  winter  grains,  or  grasses  adapted  to  the  soil,  it  can  not 
be  exhausted. 

Twenty-five  miles  above  Castle  Rock  stands  the  thriving  little  town  of 
Umatilla,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  the  same  name,  and  nine  miles 
above  is  Windmill  Rock.  In  ascending  the  river  fifteen  miles  from  this 
place,  the  land  on  either  side  rises  to  some  fifteen  hundred  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  river  which  occupies  the  entire  bottom  from  rocks  to 
rocks  on  either  side;  when  the  land  suddenly  drops  from  this  high 
plain  which  extends  from  the  Blue  Mountains  on  the  east  to  the  Cascade 
range  on  the  west,  forming,  as  it  were,  a  great  inland  dam  across  the 
Columbia  River,  fifteen  hundred  feet  high  at  the  place  where  the  river 
has  broken  through  the  dam.  As  you  pass  out  of  this  gap,  in  looking 
to  the  north  and  east,  the  eye  rests  upon  another  vast,  high,  rolling 
plain,  in  the  southeastern  part  of  which  lies  the  beautiful  valle  of  the 
Wallawalla.  At  the  upper  or  eastern  end  was  situated  the  Whitman 
or  Cayuse  Mission.  Some  six  miles  above  is  the  flourishing  town  of 
Wallawalla.  The  most  of  this  vast,  high,  rolling  plain,  and  especially 
the  valleys,  have  more  or  less  of  alkali  soil;  the  high  plains  are 
similar  to  those  we  have  just  passed, — destitute  of  all  kinds  of  timber, 
except  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  and  small  patches  of  willow  and 
cotton-wood,  in  some  little  nook  or  corner,  near  some  spring  or  stream. 

Imagine  Wallawalla  a  little  east  of  the  center  of  a  great  plain  ten  jrniles 
wide,  east  and  west,  one  hundred  and  eighty  long,  north  and  south,  sit 
uated  just  inside  of  this  great  mountain  dam  we  have  described;  with 
the  majestic  Cascade  range  of  mountains  on  the  west,  the  Blue  Moun- 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON", 

tains  on  the  east,  and  this  vast  open  plain  covered  with  bunch  grass,  and 
no  tree  in  sight,  except  upon  the  mountains ;  you  can  then  form  some 
idea  of  the  middle  Columbia  plains.  Ascending  to  the  north  one  hun 
dred  miles,  over  the  same  high  rolling  plains,  you  begin  to  find  the  yellow 
pine  and  larch  ;  not  in  dense  forests,  but  scattering  trees,  the  ground 
beneath  being  covered  with  a  species  of  coarse,  wild  grass.  These 
woods  form  a  delightful  change  to  the  traveler  after  riding  for  days 
beneath  the  scorching  rays  of  a  summer  sun.  As  you  near  the  forty- 
ninth  parallel,  the  timber  increases  in  size,  quantity,  and  quality.  The 
soil  is  light,  and,  when  the  frosts  of  winter  give  place  to  the  sleet  and 
rain  of  early  spring,  forms  a  soft,  deep  mud,  till  the  ground  becomes 
settled,  which  is  generally  about  the  first  of  May  ;  then  all  this  vast 
country  is  in  full  bloom,  with  its  myriads  of  beautiful  wild  flowers. 

The  northern  portion  of  Oregon,  now  Washington  Territory,  is 
beautifully  interspersed  with  timber  and  prairie,  in  good  proportions, 
and  has  a  rich  clay  soil. 

The  whole  country  abounds  in  trap-rock  and  granite,  singularly 
mingled,  with  basalt.  Near  the  mouth  of  Spokan  River  is  found  a 
splendid  variety  of  marble;  some  sections  of  it  are  of  a  pure  white,  while 
others  are  beautifully  clouded  with  blue,  brown,  and  green.  The  face 
of  the  country  is  not  so  uneven  as  that  further  south. 

Some  sixty  miles  south  of  the  forty-ninth  parallel,  we  come  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Okanagon  River,  which  is  the  outlet  of  a  chain  of  lakes  in 
British  Columbia,  from  which  it  takes  its  name ;  it  has  an  extensive  and 
rich  valley  for  settlement. 

At  Colville,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Kettle  Falls,  on  the  Columbia,  are  a 
United  States  military  post,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  post,  and  a 
considerable  settlement.  Some  fifteen  miles  fro-m  the  mouth  of  the 
Spokan,  and  sixty  from  Kettle  Falls,  was  located  theCimakain — or  Rev. 
Messrs.  Walker  and  Eells' — Mission.  About  sixty  miles  in  a  southeast 
erly  direction  is  the  Coeur  d'  Alene  Italian  Jesuit  Mission. 

Turning  to  the  north,  east,  and  southeast,  we  enter  the  gold  and  silver 
mountains  of  the  Pacific  Slope ;  this  range  is  cut  through  by  the  Snake 
River,  or  south  branch  of  the  Columbia.  Millions  of  dollars'  worth  of 
treasure  is  taken  out  of  the  mines  within  these  desolate  and  barren- 
looking  regions,  and  untold  millions  still  await  the  miner's  toil.  The 
reader  will  remember  that  we  are  now  traveling  east.  This  range  is, 
on  the  north  of  Snake  River,  called  Salmon  River  Mountains,  and  on  the 
south,  the  Blue  Mountains ;  thence,  on  to  the  southern  portions  of  Ore 
gon,  it  joins  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  Cascade  ranges,  bends  to  the  west, 
and,  near  the  forty-second  parallel,  runs  into  those  vast  promontories 
that  jut  into  the  Pacific  Ocean. 


MINING  ADVANTAGES.  615 

Passing  through  this  range  of  Salmon  River  and  Blue  Mountains, 
which  are  not  as  high  as  the  Cascade  range,  we  descend  into  the  great 
basin  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  which  is  intersected  by  high,  broken 
ranges  running  east  and  west  for  about  three  hundred  miles,  to  what  is 
usually  called  the  top  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  eastern  bound 
ary  of  this  vast  basin.  The  principal  rivers  which  flow  into  and 
through  this  immense  plain,  are  the  Boise,  Snake,  Portneuf,  Owyhee, 
and  their  tributaries.  On  the  north  is  Clarke's  or  Flathead  River, 
which  runs  northwest  into  the  Columbia,  near  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  United  States. 

In  all  the  northern  portion  of  this  great  inland  mountain  plain  there 
is  an  extensive  placer  and  quartz  mining  country,  besides  numerous  rich 
farming  valleys,  with  an  abundance  of  timber  for  all  practical  uses ;  most 
of  the  rough,  rocky  ranges  of  mountains  being  covered  about  half-way 
up  their  sides  with  timber,  till  you  reach  the  open  prairies  along  the 
main  valley. 

To  the  south,  and  along  Snake  River,  are  the  high  barren  sage 
plains,  extending  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the  east  to  the  Blue 
Mountains  on  the  west. 

There  are  large  tracts  of  arable  land  in  the  region  just  described, 
though  to  the  weary  traveler  coming  from  the  green  plains  of  Kansas 
or  the  valley  of  the  Wallamet,  every  thing  looks  forbidding  and  deso 
late,  especially  during  the  dry  season.  But  remove  the  sage  from  any 
of  these  dry,  barren  places,  and  the  rich  bunch-grass  takes  its  place. 
As  well  might  the  farmer  expect  his  wheat  to  grow  in  a  hemlock  wood 
or  cedar  swamp,  as  for  any  thing  but  sage  to  grow  on  these  plains  till 
that  is  destroyed.  Hence,  from  the  experiments  we  have  made  on  the 
soils  of  which  we  have  been  speaking,  we  are  confident  that  the  greater 
portion  of  the  country  now  and  for  years  past  pronounced  barren  and 
useless,  will  be  found,  with  intelligent  and  proper  cultivation,  to  rank 
among  as  good  lands  as  any  we  have,  and  probably  more  desirable.  As 
to  timber,  that  must  be  cultivated  till  it  becomes  accustomed  to  the  soil. 
Cotton-wood  is  found  in  small  quantities  all  over  this  plain,  in  the 
vicinity  of  streams  and  springs.  The  northeastern  part  of  this  basin  is 
Montana  ;  the  southwestern  is  Idaho.  The  mineral  wealth  of  this  coun 
try,  especially  that  of  north  Idaho  and  Montana,  is  inexhaustible.  Gold, 
silver,  copper,  iron,  lead,  cinnabar,  and  tin,  are  found  in  abundance  in 
these  Territories,  and  in  eastern  and  middle  Oregon. 

"  Owyhee  Bullion. — John  A.  Post,  internal  revenue  collector,  fur 
nishes  the  following  resume  of  the  bullion  product  from  January  1  to 
November  1,  1866,  as  assayed  by  different  parties.  The  figures  are 
greenback  valuation : — 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

January $36,632  81 

February 62.874  00 

March 15,640  85 

April 11,959  25 

May .. 34,570  34 

June 46,224  44 

July 46,456  26 

August 177,704  15 

September 293,921  53 

October 371,173  13 

Total $1,073,256  78 

"  During  the  early  part  of  the  year,  Mr.  Post  says,  there  was  a  great 
amount  of  treasure  sent  out  in  various  shapes,  of  which  he  could  get  no 
account.  To  the  foregoing  must  still  be  added  the  many  tons  of  ruby 
silver,  polybasite,  etc.,  shipped  just  as  it  came  from  the  Poorman  mine, 
— enough,  at  a  rough  estimate,  to  increase  the  total  to  fifteen  hundred 
thousand,  at  least.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  product  of  the  present  year 
will  be  two  millions,  and  that  of  next  year  go  beyond  five  millions."* 

"  Treasure. — There  has  been  shipped  from  this  city  during  the  past 
year,  the  sum  of  $8,070,600  in  treasure.  The  amount  passing  through 
private  hands  may  be  safely  estimated  at  $3,000,000."f 

We  take  the  following  from  an  official  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  a  copy  of  which  has  been  sent  to  Congress : — 

uFrom  the  best  information  available,  the  following  is  a  near 
approximation  to  our  total  gold  and  silver  product  for  the  year  ending 
January  7,  1867  : — 

California $25, 000,000 

Nevada 20,000,000 

Montana 12,000,000 

Idaho 6,500,000 

Washington 1,000,000 

Oregon 2,000,000 

Colorado > 2,500,000 

New  Mexico 500,000 

Arizona 500,000 

Add  for  bullion  derived  from  unknown  sources  within  the 
States  and  Territories,  unaccounted  for  by  assessors  and  ex 
press  companies,  etc 5,000,000 

Total  product  of  the  United  States $75,000,000 

"  The  bullion  product  of  Washington  is  estimated  by  the  surveyor- 
general  at  $1,500,000.  That  of  Oregon  is  estimated  at  $2,500,000.  In- 

*  From  the  Oregonian.  \  From  the  Portland  Herald. 


CLIMATE.  617 

telligent  residents  of  Idaho  and  Montana  represent  that  the  figures  given 
in  the  above  estimate,  so  far  as  these  Territories  are  concerned,  are  en 
tirely  too  low,  and  might  be  doubled  without  exceeding  the  truth.  The 
product  of  Idaho  alone,  for  this  year,  is  said  to  be  $15,000,000  to 
$18,000,000.  That  of  Montana  is  estimated  by  the  surveyor-general  at 
$20,000,000.  Similar  exceptions  are  taken  to  the  estimates  of  Colorado, 
New  Mexico,  and  Arizona." 

The  climate  varies  in  the  three  sections  of  country  we  have  described, 
exactly  in  the  ratio  of  soil  and  timber.  On  the  coast,  contiguous  to  the 
ocean,  we  have  more  rain  than  we  require.  Like  our  superabundance 
of  the  tallest  and  best  of  fir-timber,  there  is  so  much  of  it  that  we  would 
be  glad  if  we  could  divide  with  the  second  and  third  places  we  have 
described.  We  have  enough  rain  and  timber  to  supply  all  the  country; 
and  perhaps,  when  we  can  cut  down  our  tall  trees,  that  filter  the  rain 
out  of  the  clouds,  they  may  get  more  and  we  less.  Be  that  as  it  may, 
our  winters  are  mild  and  rainy,  our  summers  cool  and  pleasnnt,  with 
sufficient  rain  and  ocean  mist  to  supply  the  vegetable  creation  with 
abundant  moisture. 

In  middle  Oregon  the  winters  are  mild  and  frosty,  with  a  small 
amount  of  snow — seldom  severe  ;  farmers  should  feed  stock  a  month 
or  six  weeks ;  summers  warm,  and  sometimes  sultry  in  July  and 
August ;  rains  in  the  spring  and  late  in  the  fall,  scarcely  enough  for 
the  farmers'  use. 

In  the  eastorn  plain  or  great  mountain  basin,  the  winters  are  cold  and 
dry,  snow  and  frost  severe.  Snow  seldom  falls  to  exceed  two  feet  in 
depth, — average  winters,  eighteen  inches, — but  it  falls  deep  upon  the 
mountains  and  remains  till  it  is  melted  by  the  warm  winds  and  sun  of 
early  summer,  causing  the  summer  floods.  The  principal  rise  in  the  rivers 
is  during  the  months  of  June  and  July.  Less  rain,  spring  and  fall,  than 
in  middle  Oregon ;  summers  dry  and  hot.  In  the  northern  part,  the 
country  is  better  supplied  with  rain.  This  may  arise  from  the  ranges 
of  the  mountain  currents  of  air  and  the  winds  from  the  South  Pacific 
Ocean  along  the  inland  plains,  and  the  cool  atmosphere  around  our 
snow-clad  mountains.  We  will  leave  further  speculation  on  this  point 
to  those  who  have  had  more  experience  in  such  matters  than  our 
selves. 

Taking  the  country  as  a  whole,  with  our  inexhaustible  gold,  silver, 
and  other  minerals ;  our  extensive  farming  valleys ;  our  vast  forests  of 
timber  upon  the  borders  of  an  ocean  comparatively  destitute  of  this 
essential  element  of  civilization ;  there  is  no  plausible  reason  why  this 
western  portion  of  the  United  States  may  not  in  a  few  years  become  the 
abode  of  industrious  and  thriving  millions. 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 


The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad. 

The  following  article  on  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  is  from  the 
pen  of  Mr.  Philip  Ritz  :  — 

"Having  spent  most  of  the  last  year  in  traveling  through  Washing 
ton,  Idaho,  and  Montana  Territories,  and  having  crossed  the  continent 
in  midwinter,  partly  on  both  of  the  great  railroad  routes,  and  at  the 
earnest  request  of  Ex-Governor  Smith,  of  Massachusetts,  who  is  pres 
ident  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  and  of  some  members 
of  Congress,  I  compiled,  while  in  Washington,  the  following  statistics, 
on  the  practicability  of  the  Northern  route  :  — 

"  On  the  first  section  of  the  country  from  Puget  Sound,  there  are 
two  routes,  both  practicable  ;  one  via  the  Columbia  River,  to  the  mouth 
of  Snake  River  ;  the  other  via  Snoqualmie  Pass  and  Yakima  River,  to 
the  same  point.  On  either  route  there  will  not  be  much  heavy  grading. 
There  is  on  this  section  an  abundance  of  the  finest  timber,  excepting 
on  that  part  of  the  Columbia  from  the  Dalles  to  Snake  River,  and  a 
short  distance  o.f  the  route  from  Yakima  to  the  mouth  of  Snake  River. 

"  The  second  section,  lying  between  the  Columbia  River  and  the 
Bitter  Root  Mountains,  a  distance  of  about  two  hundred  and  twenty 
miles,  is  over  a  rolling  prairie  country,  with  splendid  grazing,  and  fine 
timber  on  the  Spokan  River,  a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  miles. 

"  On  the  third  section,  which  includes  the  mountainous  part,  a 
distance  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  and  lying  between  the  116th 
and  112th  degrees  of  longitude,  the  grading  will,  in  places,  be  heavy, 
and  will  require  three  or  four  short  tunnels.  This  will  include  the 
entire  Rocky  Mountain  district,  the  work  on  which  will  be  heavy,  but 
not  more  difficult  than  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  road,  between  the 
Ohio  River  and  Harper's  Ferry.  On  this  entire  section  there  is  an 
abundance  of  the  finest  timber.  On  this  section  there  is  considerable 
good  wheat  land,  as  has  been  proven  by  the  fine  crops  raised  in  Hell 
Gate  Valley  last  season. 

"  This  extends  from  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to 
Lake  Superior,  a  distance  of  about  one  thousand  and  ten  miles.  The 
route  here  passes  over  a  rolling  prairie,  susceptible  of  settlement  the 
entire  distance. 

"  It  will  be  seen  that  the  entire  distance  on  this  route,  between  the 
head  of  Lake  Superior  and  Puget  Sound,  is  about  1,810  miles,  and  that 
there  is  scarcely  a  mile  of  the  entire  country  but  will  eventually  be  set 
tled.  It  is  much  shorter  than  any  other  route  across  the  continent, 
connecting  navigable  waters.  The  mountains  are  much  lower  and  the 
country  much  more  fertile.  It  is  really  the  only  easy  pass  across  the 


THE  NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILROAD.  619 

American  continent,  for  it  is  the  only  part  of  the  continent  where  two 
large  rivers  rise  immediately  together  and  flow  in  opposite  directions — 
the  Columbia  cutting  its  way  entirely  through  the  mountains  on  a  water 
level  to  the  Pacific ;  and  the  Missouri  connecting  with  the  great  plains 
bordering  on  the  lakes.  The  Rocky  Mountains  at  this  point  are  really 
so  low,  that  the  miners,  last  summer,  actually  took  large  streams  in 
ditches  from  the  waters  of  the  Missouri,  over  the  divide  to  the  Pacific 
side  for  mining  purposes.  In  consequence  of  the  low  passes  through 
to  the  Pacific,  the  climate  is  warmer  than  it  is  in  the  mountains  in 
the  latitude  of  Salt  Lake  City,  400  miles  due  south.  I  crossed  the 
summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  near  Deer  Lodge  Valley,  in  Montana, 
on  the  17th  of  December.  There  was  no  snow;  the  roads  dry  and 
dusty,  and  the  weather  mild  and  pleasant,  and  none  of  the  streams 
frozen  over.  When  I  reached  Salt  Lake  City,  the  snow  on  the  Wasatch 
and  Rocky  Mountain  ranges  was  twenty-six  inches  deep,  and  the  night 
we  crossed  the  Wasatch  range,  the  thermometer  stood  at  ten  degrees 
below  zero,  and  Green  River  and  all  those  streams  in  the  mountains 
had  been  frozen  over  six  weeks,  so  that  the  stage  rolled  over  on  the 
ice.  Such  was  the  difference  in  the  climate  of  the  two  routes.  The  dif 
ferences  in  the  real  wealth  and  resources  of  the  two  routes  is  perhaps 
even  greater  than  that  of  climate.  The  central  route,  after  it  leaves  the 
mining  country  of  Nevada,  around  Virginia  City,  passes  up  the  Hum- 
boklt  country  toward  Salt  Lake,  for  a  distance  of  500  or  600  miles,  over 
the  most  desolate  and  barren  country  on  the  American  continent.  The 
country  has  neither  mines,  timber,  nor  any  other  redeemable  quality 
about  it.  Salt  Lake  Valley  is  a  small  and  rather  fertile  valley ;  the  only 
fertile  spot  for  hundreds  of  miles.  From  Salt  Lake  City  to  Denver,  a 
distance  of  six  hundred  miles,  the  route  lies  over  an  alkali  and  sage  plain. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  is  not  one  mile  on  the  northern  route  that  does 
not  either  furnish  timber,  grazing,  agricultural  lands,  or  minerals,  and, 
in  some  instances,  all  together.  Montana  is  just  in  its  infancy ;  its  mines 
scarcely  prospected;  and  yet,  last  season,  according  to  the  report  of 
the  Treasury  Department,  Montana  stood  second  on  the  list  in  the 
amount  of  gold  produced ;  California  producing  $25,000,000  ;  Montana, 
$18.000,000;  Idaho  and  Colorado,  $17,000,000  each;  and  Nevada, 
$16,000,000. 

"The  mountains  of  Montana  are  a  perfect  net-work  of  quartz  ledges, 
immensely  rich  in  gold  and  silver.  Five  years  from  this  time,  I  believe 
there  will  be  as  much  as  $40,000,000  of  gold  and  silver  taken  from  the 
mines  of  Montana  per  year;  more  than  one-fourth  enough  to  build  and 
equip  the  Northern  Pacific  Road,  ready  for  use.  There  are  also  im 
mense  mines  of  coal,  iron,  copper,  and  lead,  in  the  country.  The  north- 


620  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

ern  route  crosses  but  one  range  of  mountains,  and  that  at  a  point  which, 
so  far  as  the  experience  of  white  men  have  gone,  is  known  to  be  as  pass 
able  in  winter  as  the  Michigan  Central  Railroad.  In  deciding  the  ques 
tion  of  relative  distance,  we  must  consider  the  entire  distance  between 
Liverpool  and  Canton.  Say  the  mean  latitude  of  the  North  Pacific 
route  is  46  degrees,  and  of  the  Central  37|,  and  a  difference  of  nine  de 
grees  exists.  Now  a  degree  of  longitude  (longitude  contracting  as  we 
approach  the  poles)  is  about  six  miles  shorter  on  the  former  than  the 
latter.  There  are  240  degrees  of  longitude  between  Liverpool  and  Can 
ton  ;  this  makes  the  navigator's  distance,  on  the  line  of  the  North  Pa 
cific,  1,440  miles  less  than  the  Central.  This  longitudinal  difference  is 
quite  an  item.  This  difference  in  distance  is  not  the  only  item  in  favor 
of  the  northern  route.  It  is  an  established  fact  that  every  sailing  vessel, 
bound  directly  from  San  Francisco  to  Hong  Kong,  comes  up  to,  and 
even  beyond,  the  latitude  ofPuget  Sound,  before  striking  directly  west, 
in  order  to  take  advantage  of  the  wind  currents  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
Time,  these  days,  being  an  important  consideration  in  commercial 
transactions,  the  argument  would  still  be  in  favor  of  the  North 
Pacific  route,  admitting  rates  of  transportation  to  be  equal  on  both 
lines.  But  these  rates  would  not  be  the  same,  even  if  the  distance  of 
the  two  were  equal,  for  the  reason  that  the  country  would  be  self-sup 
porting  on  nearly  every  mile  of  the  Northern  route,  while  on  the  Cen 
tral,  for  hundreds  of  miles  between  Salt  Lake  and  Nevada,  not  a  tie 
for  the  track,  nor  a  stick,  nor  a  pound  of  coal  for  fuel  can  be  had.  All 
these  things  must  be  brought  from  abroad. 

"  Now,  owing  to  adventitious  circumstances, — the  discovery  of  the 
precious  metals  in  California,  Nevada,  and  Colorado,  and  the  settlement 
of  Mormons  in  Utah, — the  bulk  of  local  business  seems  to  be  on  the  side 
of  the  Central  route.  But  Montana  will  soon  outstrip  California  in  the 
yield  of  gold;  besides,  the  route  passes  through  a  country  susceptible 
of  settlement  all  the  way  from  Lake  Superior  to  Puget  Sound,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  but  that  five  years  hence  there  will  be  as  much  local 
business  through  Minnesota,  Dakota,  Montana,  Idaho,  Washington,  and 
Oregon,  as  through  Nebraska,  Colorado,  Utah,  Nevada,  and  California. 
Accident  gives  the  Central  route  the  present  pre-eminence ;  nature  in 
sures  the  Northern  the  final  victory. 

"  It  is  not  generally  known,  the  large  amount  of  business  that  was 
done  in  Montana  last  season.  From  May,  1866,  to  October  1,  1866, 
C.  C.  Huntley  carried,  on  his  line  of  stages  between  Fort  Benton  and 
Helena,  2,500  passengers,  and  during  the  same  period  9,500  tons  of 
freight  passed  from  Benton  to  Helena  ;  4,375  freight- wagons  passed 
over  the  same  route;  45  steamboats,  with  passengers  and  freight, 


THE  NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILROAD.  (521 

arrived  at  Fort  Benton  from  St.  Louis  and  other  points  in  the  east,  and 
this,  be  it  remembered,  is  the  first  season  that  this  trade  has  been  car 
ried  on  to  any  extent,  and  also,  that  this  is  but  one  point  in  the  Terri 
tory.  It  is  really  the  commencement  of  a  great  trade,  that  will  require 
a  vast  capital,  and  employ  the  energy  and  industry  of  a  large  number 
of  persons. 

"There  are  no  less  than  four  lofty  ranges  of  mountains  to  cross  on 
the  Central  route,  the  Rocky  Mountains,  at  Bridger's  Pass,  being  the 
most  passable  crossing;  the  Wasatch,  the  Humboldt,  and  the  Sierra 
Nevada  are  barely  passable  in  summer.  By  the  way  of  Pen  d'Oreille 
Lake,  on  the  Northern  route,  freight  can  be  taken  from  the  Columbia 
to  the  Missouri  nearly  all  winter.  Another  advantage  possessed  by 
the  Northern  route  is,  that  at  present  the  distance  is  less  than  600  miles 
between  the  head  of  steamboat  navigation  on  the  Missouri  and  Snake 
rivers,  and  when  the  boats  are  completed  which  are  now  building  on 
the  Pen  d'Oreille  Lake  and  Clarke's  fork  of  the  Columbia,  the  land 
travel  will  be  reduced  to  about  390  miles. 

"  Did  time  and  space  permit,  I  might  give  further  proof  of  the  supe 
riority  of  the  Northern  route.  In  my  comparative  reasoning,  I  have 
made  these  distinctions  with  no  invidious  feeling.  The  sooner  San 
Francisco  is  connected  by  rail  with  New  York,  the  better  for  Washing 
ton  and  Montana,  in  common  with  all  the  mountain  regions.  It  is 
gratifying  to  see  our  friends  to  the  southward  prosecuting  their  enter 
prise  with  so  much  vigor.  But  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  in  my  own  mind 
that  the  time  will  come  when  the  trafficking  wealth  of  Europe  and  Asia 
will  be  poured  across  the  mountains  and  valleys  of  Washington  and 
Montana  Territories. 

"  Our  prospects,  it  is  true,  look  rather  dull  here  at  present,  the  whole 
energy  of  the  Pacific  coast  being  concentrated  in  building  the  Central 
road,  and  for  a  short  time  we  may  expect  dull  times.  The  attention  of 
capitalists  can  not  be  diverted  from  this  enterprise  much  longer,  and 
when  once  fully  examined,  there  will  be  millions  of  capital  ready  to 
invest  in  it. 

"  Let  us  open  up  the  Mullan  road  and  the  lake  route,  and  all  other 
routes  to  the  Missouri  River,  and  invite  travelers  and  emigrants  to 
come  this  way  and  see  the  advantages  of  this  northern  country,  and 
then  we  will  have  no  trouble  in  getting  money  to  build  a  railroad." 

CONCLUSION. 

As  the  reader  will  have  discovered,  we  commenced  our  history  with 
Oregon  as  it  was  in  1792.  With  the  single  exception  of  the  feeble 
effort  made  by  Mr.  Astor  in  1810-11,  and  Captain  Wyeth  in  1834-5, 


622  HISTORY  OF  OREGON 

no  one  ever  attempted  any  thing  like  an  organized  opposition  to  the 
British  fur  companies  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

In  regard  to  Captain  Wyeth,  we  admit  with  Mr.  Newell  that  he  was 
driven  from  the  country  "  not  by  fair  and  open  competition  in  the 
trade,"  and  that  he  is  entitled  to  much  credit  for  his  discernment  and 
forethought  in  leaving  when  he  did,  for  if  he  had  not  accepted  the 
terms  offered  to  him  by  Dr.  McLaughlin,  that  gentleman  said  to  us  that 
the  company  would  have  insisted  on  other  means  being  used  to  relieve 
its  trade  from  his  competition,  so  that  whatever  credit  or  honor  there 
is  due  in  the  case  belongs  to  Captain  Wyeth's  judgment  and  decision 
in  accepting  such  compensation  as  the  company  chose  to  give,  and  not 
to  the  company  for  giving  it ;  for  it  was  that,  or  a  crime  to  be  com 
mitted  in  getting  rid  of  him  and  his  party  ;  and,  as  in  the  case  of  Smith 
and  Dr.  Whitman,  to  be  charged  upon  the  Indians. 

As  Americans,  we  must  not  conclude  that  it  could  do  a  dishonor 
able  or  mean  act  to  our  traders,  hunters,  missionaries,  or  even  settlers. 
No  one  must  presume  to  think  that  the  Honorable  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  would  ever  conduct  any  but  an  honorable  trade,  or  engage  in  any 
but  an  honorable  business,  in  the  country ;  notwithstanding,  its  own 
countrymen  charge  it  with  having  seized  and  sunk  vessels  belonging 
to  them,  by  running  them  ashore  in  Hudson's  Bay  ;  robbed  and  fought 
with  the  Northwest  Company  before  they  combined  their  interests  ;  and 
had  its  own  Governor  Semple  killed  in  fighting  for  its  interests,  be 
sides  all  its  transactions  with  its  own  countrymen;  this  would  be 
ungenerous  and  mean  in  the  estimation  of  men  unable  to  distinguish 
between  a  selfish  and  a  generous  act,  or  a  cause  and  a  crime  of  civilized 
and  savage  men. 

Missionary  efforts  were  first  made  in  the  country  by  Rev.  Jason  Lee. 
He,  being  a  Canadian-born  subject,  was  received  with  less  objection 
than  Rev.  Messrs.  Parker  and  Spalding,  and  Dr.  Whitman  ;  but,  as  has 
been  shown,  the  .English  people  expected  to  hold  the  country  by  the 
power  and  influence  of  their  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

The  company,  as  such,  could  not  act  against  the  American  mission 
aries  as  it  did  against  American  traders  and  hunters ;  hence,  the 
Episcopal  or  Established  Church  influence  from  London  was  made  use 
of,  and  a  clergyman  sent  to  Vancouver.  While  missionary  operations 
were  confined  to  the  Wallamet  Valley  this  was  sufficient,  but  when 
those  efforts  were  extended  to  the  Cayuses  and  Nez  Perces,  and  efforts 
were  being  made  to  establish  missions  further  north  by  another  res 
ponsible  religious  society,  the  company  became  alarmed  for  its  profits 
by  the  fur  trade ;  and  by  one  of  its  own  unprincipled,  dishonorable, 
as  well  as  hypocritical  arrangements,  under  the  specious  pretense  of 


SUMMARY  OF  EVENTS.  623 

having  religious  teachers  to  look  after  the  moral  and  religious  instruc 
tion^  of  its  Canadian-French  Catholic  servants,  it  sent  for,  and  con 
tinued  in  its  service,  the  very  religious  order  of  the  Roman  Church 
that  was  at  that  time  proscribed  by  the  laws  of  the  country  from  which 
it  held  its  -license.  This  showed  the  moral  principle  by  which  it 
was  governed  in  relation  to  its  own  country.  The  interests  of  its 
trade  were  paramount  to  all  moral  principles  or  religious  teachings ; 
and  while  it  was  professing  warm  friendship  for  one  religious  sect, 
it  was  encouraging  secretly  and  openly  an  opposite  and  strongly 
bigoted  one,  to  divide  and  distract  the  moral  and  religious  sentiments 
of  the  ignorant  natives  ;  claiming  for  itself  an  exclusive  monopoly 
in  trade,  as  being  beneficial  to  the  Indian  race,  which  was  admitted 
by  all.  This  was  the  moral  and  religious  condition  of  the  whole 
country  when  the  American  settlers  came  to  it.  They,  with  the  Ameri 
can  missionaries,  combined  in  forming  a  provisional  government,  and 
established  a  quasi  independent  American  republic,  with  the  condition 
that,  whenever  the  United  States  government  saw  fit  to  extend  its  juris 
diction  over  the  country,  this  temporary  government  should  cease. 

The  English  and  French  united  with  us  in  this  organization,  on  con 
dition  that  they  should  not  be  required  to  do  any  thing  that  would 
conflict  with  their  duties  as  subjects  of  Great  Britain. 

The  reader  will  perceive  that,  in  carrying  out  the  plan  laid  down  in 
our  preface,  we  have  been  obliged  to  give  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
a  prominent  place  in  our  history,  as  we  have  had  to  meet  them  in  every 
step  of  our  progress. 

No  history  of  Oregon  can  be  written,  without  acknowledging  the 
immense  influence  that  company  held  in  the  country,  and  the  zeal  and 
energy  it  put  forth,  in  counteracting  American  ideas  and  influence. 
It  was  its  original  design  to  colonize  and  secure  to  the  British  crown 
all  the  countries  which  it  might  explore  and  occupy.  And  had  it 
carried  out  that  design,  no  American  effort  could  have  succeeded  in 
securing  the  country  to  the  government  of  the  United  States.  But 
from  a  selfish,  short-sighted,  and  mistaken  policy  ;  and  a  blind  per 
ception  of  its  asserted  commercial  rights,  privileges,  and  powers,  it 
" hunted  up"  the  country,  and  expected  to  secure  to  itself  undisturbed 
possession  of  the  northwestern  part  of  the  continent. 

For  this  purpose,  while  it  was  destroying  the  valuable  fur  animals 
in  what  is  now  United  States  territory,  it  was  protecting  such  as 
were  to  be  found  further  north ;  and  by  this  means  continued  the 
enormous  profits  of  its  trade,  for  a  series  of  years  longer  than  it  other 
wise  could  have  done.  The  discovery  of  gold  on  the  Frazer  River 
in  1858,  the  rush  of  miners,  and  the  organizing  of  British  Columbia, 


624  HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

partially  checked  this  fur  company,  and  Jed  to  the  formation  of  a 
sickly  colony  strangled  in  the  embrace  of  an  avaricious  monopoly.  ^To 
counteract  the  American  and  Protestant  missionary  efforts,  it  brought  to 
Oregon  the  Roman  and  French  Jesuits.  To  compete  with  the  Ameri 
cans  in  stock  and  agricultural  products,  it  originated  the  Puget  Sound 
Company.  To  outnumber  the  American  settlers,  it  brought  on  a  colony 
of  half-breeds  from  Red  River. 

While  by  the  influence  of  its  Jesuits  it  could  destroy  one  branch 
of  the  Protestant  missions,  and  bring  on  an  Indian  war,  the  settle 
ment  had  gained  strength  sufficient  to  maintain  independence  without 
its  aid. 

While  the  country  has  increased  in  population  and  wealth,  this 
English  monopoly  has  been  decreasing  in  power  and  influence. 

'VVhile  the  Protestant  religion  has  continued  to  widen  and  deepen 
its  hold  upon  the  American  people,  the  Papal  superstition  has  increased 
among  the  Indians,  thus  rendering  them  more  hopelessly  depraved, 
and  consigning  them  and  their  descendants  to  uneuding  superstition 
and  ignorance,  or  to  utter  oblivion  as  a  race,  to  be  superseded  by  an 
enlightened  Christian,  American  people. 

With  unfeigned  thanks  to  all  who  have  assisted  us  in  this  work,  we 
take  our  leave,  hoping  the  facts  we  have  given  will  be  useful,  and 
abundantly  reward  the  reader  for  his  time  and  money. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on 'the  last  date  stamped  below. 


APR 


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1S48 


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REC'D  LD 


i 


1957 


/201952L 

3Dec'5 

NO  V;  9  1953 


REC'D 

JAN    i>l958 


LD  21-100m-9,'47(A5702sl6)476 


YC  28259 


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